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RELIGIOUS 


1 


CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS, 


FORMS OF WORSHIP 

PRACTISED BY THE SEVERAL NATIONS OF THE KNOWN WORLD, 
FROM THE EARLIEST RECORDS TO THE 
PRESENT TIME. 


ON THE BASIS 

OF THE 

CELEBRATED AND SPLENDID WORK OF 
BERNARD PICART. 

TO WHICH IS ADDED, 

A BRIEF VIEW OF MINOR SECTS, 

WHICH EXIST AT THE PRESENT DAY; 


DESIGNED ESPECIALLY FOR THE USE OF FAMILIES J NOT ONLY 
AS ENTERTAINING AND INSTRUCTIVE, BUT OF 
GREAT IMPORTANCE AS A 


WORK OF REFERENCE. 


rA 


BY CHARLES A. GOODRICH. 


ACCOMPANIED WITH A LARGE MAP OF THE WORLD, AND 
EMBELLISHED WITH ELEGANT ENGRAVINGS. 


.) o 
1 -> ) 


HARTFORD: 




PUBLISHED BY HUTCHISON AND DWIER. 





Biao 

.Git 


_/ 


Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1834, by 
HUTCHISON & DWIER, 

in the Clerk’s office of the District Court of Connecticut. 


In Exchange 
Duke University 
MAY 7 - 7934 



/ 






PREFACE. 


In the Prospectus of the present volume, it was announced 
that it would have for its basis a work published in Europe 
some time since, commonly known by the title of “ Picart’s 
Religious Ceremonies and Customs ; ,J and so denominated 
from the circumstance, that this distinguished artist prepared 
embellishments for the work, consisting of more than five 
hundred copper-plate engravings, which, for elegance of 
design, and for felicity of execution, have rarely, if ever, been 
excelled. 

The work was originally composed in French, and was 
comprised in six volumes folio. Its celebrity obtained for 
it an English translation, in the same number of volumes; 
and within a few years the whole has been abridged in a 
large quarto volume, by Colin Mackenzie, Esq. This 
abridgement has been chiefly used by the Editor in preparing 
the present volume; but the embellishments have been taken 
from the English folio translation, and the abridgement 
generally compared with it. 

Although the principal part of the volume has been derived 
from the foregoing work; yet important additions and alter¬ 
ations have been made. These have resulted from a desire 
to conform the work to the present state of Nations and 
Tribes, in respect to several of which our knowledge has 
been greatly enlarged and corrected, since the work of Picart 



4 


PREFACE. 


was compiled. It will be seen, that besides that portion of 
the volume, which is occupied by the Introduction and the 
History of the Jews, (for which articles the Editor is indebted 
to a distinguished literary friend, and which he thinks will 
be found greatly to enhance the interest and value of the 
Volume,) new articles have been prepared in respect to the 
Hindoos, and most of the Protestant Communities; while 
important corrections and additions have been made illustra¬ 
ting the ceremonies and customs of the Mahometans—Indian 
and African Tribes, &c. The brief article on the South Sea 
Islands is chiefly derived from the popular work, “ Polyne¬ 
sian Researches,” by Ellis. 

It was the original plan of the Editor to embrace within 
the volume proposed, an account of the religion of some 
nations and tribes, which he has felt himself obliged, in the 
sequel, to omit, that he might avoid a common and just ob¬ 
jection to abridgements, viz. that in the multiplicity of subjects 
treated of the interest of circumstance and detail is lost. To 
the student of anatomy, a skeleton may be an object of pleas¬ 
ant contemplation; but to secure the interests of the casual 
observer, it must have the usual accompaniments of the living 
man. The “ Dictionary of Minor Sects,” which it was in¬ 
tended should embrace a large number, has been necessarily 
confined to a “ Brief View” of such only as may be deemed 
most important. 

The belief is entertained that the volume will be found to 
be replete with interest and instruction, growing out of the 
subjects upon which it treats. The reader will have pre¬ 
sented to him a picture of the religious world. He will per¬ 
ceive upon that picture many dark, and distressing shades 
he will see in what varied and unhallowed forms, mankind 
have worshipped the common Parent of all; he will be led 
to contemplate the delusions practised upon millions, by the 
cunning and craft of imposture; the unholy devotion de- 



PREFACE. 


5 


manded of other millions, by an intolerant hierarchy; and 
the debasing superstitions and cruel abominations inculcated 
upon still more millions of the human family, by an earth- 
born system of idolatry. From the pain of dwelling upon 
these darker shades, he will find relief, by turning his eye 
upon some bright spots in the picture. There are, blessed 
be God, some such spots, the original darkness of which has 
been in a measure removed, by the shedding down of light 
from on high. And, although that heavenly light is in a 
degree obscured by the variety and contrariety of opinions, 
which still prevail among Christian communities; yet the 
reader will find it pleasant to reflect that the differences, which 
now divide them, are gradually diminishing. A day is 
coming, when, in respect to essential truths, and, perhaps, in 
respect to those which are less important, there will prevail 
a delightful harmony among the professed followers of a 
once crucified Redeemer. Nay, more than this, the voice 
of prophecy has predicted a still more glorious triumph of 
the Son of God. Into the dark corners of the earth, the light 
of the Gospel will ultimately penetrate, and the habitations 
of cruelty will become the dwelling places of righteousness. 
Even at this present time, the Christian Church is gathering 
in the first fruits of this golden age. The anti-christian 
systems and the idolatrous superstitions of the world are 
rapidly approaching their fall. What, if the Jew still clings 
to the dreams of a Messiah Ben David—what, if the Mussul¬ 
man still pays his devotions at the tomb of the prophet—what, 
if the Hindoo yet points to a future avatar of Vishnoo, the 
preserver, the tidings of a crucified Redeemer are spreading 
through every portion of the globe. . “ Idolatry has been 
overthrown in the islands of the Pacific; and in India, that 
massive, gorgeous, venerable superstition, which has with¬ 
stood not only the decay of time, but the sword of Mahomet, 
zealously protected, patronized, and endowed by a Christian 


6 


PREFACE. 


government, has been undermined, and a breach has been 
made in the outworks. The Bramin has been converted, 
and the still prouder Moslem, and the unimpassioned Chinese, 
the degraded negro, and the wild CafFer, and the brutish 
Hottentot.” 

These are antepasts of better days. Yet how much re¬ 
mains to be done before the warfare of Zion shall be accom¬ 
plished!—before that period shall arrive, when the earth- 
shall be full of the knowledge of God ! Let the reader in¬ 
quire, while he hails that day as certain in its advent, what 
he may do to accelerate its arrival. 







CONTENTS. 


Introduction. - Page 9 

PART I. 

History and Religious Ceremonies of the Jews. - 21 

CHAPTER I. 

History of the Jews..21 

CHAPTER II. 

Religious Customs and Ceremonies of the Jews. - 53 

Sec. 1. Fundamental Doctrines. 53 

Sec. 2. Customs and Laws of the Ancient Jews. - 59 

Sec. 3. Religious Rites. ------ 72 

Sec. 4.' Ecclesiastical Discipline—Worship—Festi¬ 
vals, &c..81 

PART II. 

History and Religious Customs of the Mahometans. 97 

CHAPTER I. 

Life of Mahomet. . 97 

CHAPTER II. 

Religious Tenets, Ceremonies, and Customs of the 

Mahometans. ------- 123 

PART III. 

Religious Tenets, Ceremonies, and Customs of the 

Greek and Roman Catholic Churches. - - 159 

CHAPTER I. 

Greek Church. .159 

Sec. 1. Greek Church Proper..159 

Sec. 2. Religious Principles and Customs of the 

Russian Greek Church. - - - - 197 

Sec. 3. Other Branches of the Greek Church. - - 220 

Sec. 1. Georgian and Mingrelian Churches. - - 220 

Sec. 2. Nestorian Churches. ----- 224 

Sec. 3. Christians of St. Thomas. - 228 

Sec. 4. Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the 

Jacobites. - - - - - -231 

Sec. 5. Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the 

Copts. - - - - - - 233 

Sec. 6. Doctrines and Customs of the Abyssinian or 

Ethiopians..235 

Sec. 7. Religious Tenets and Customs of the Ar- 

minians..241 




I 


8 CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER II. 

Religious Tenets, Customs, Ceremonies, &c. of the 

Roman Catholic Church. - 247 

Sec. 1. Tenets, Customs, &c. - 247 

Sec. 2. Sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church. 361 
Sec. 3. Holy Orders of the Roman Catholic Church. 377 
Sec. 4. Hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. 391 

PART IV. 

Religious Customs and Ceremonies of Protestant 

Communities. ------ 402 

Sec. 1. Lutherans. ------- 403 

Sec. 2. Church of England. ----- 416 

Sec. 3. Kirk of Scotland. - 429 

Sec. 4. English and American Presbyterians. - 434 

Sec. 5. Calvinists. ------- 436 

Sec. 6. Arminians. ------- 445 

Sec. 7. Oongregationalists. - - - - - r 448 

Sec. 8. Baptists. ------- 460 

Sec. 9. Methodists. ------ 465 

Sec. 10. Quakers. ------- 476 

PART V. 


Religious Ceremonies and Customs of Pagan Nations and 


Tribes. 

Sec. 1. Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the 

Chinese. - - - - 487 

Sec. 2. Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the 

Japanese. ______ 512 

Sec. 3. Religious Tenets, Ceremonies, and Customs 

of the Thibetians and Tartars. - - 535 

Sec. 4. Religious Doctrines, Ceremonies, and Cus¬ 
toms of the Hindoos. - 546 

Sec. 5. Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the 

Laplanders. ------ 557 

Sec. 6. Religious Ceremonies and Customs of Indian 

Tribes. ------- 560 

Sec. 7. Religious Ceremonies and Customs of Afri¬ 
can Tribes. ------ 556 

Sec. 8. Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the 

Polynesians. ------ 570 

A Brief View of Minor Sects. - 573 


/ 


INTRODUCTION. 


/ 


It is a fact which we learn from history, that religion oj 
some kind has existed, in every period of time, and among all 
nations. It can be traced up to the infancy of the ^ 

world, and among the fathers of the human race, some kind has 
The earliest account that has reached us, which always exist- 
is that of our sacred scriptures, informs us of its e( b 
existence even before the origin of nations, while as yet the in¬ 
habitants of the globe were one entire community. 

Some few notices appear in that hook, of the religious rites 
of the antediluvian world; as the offerings of Cain and Abel, 
the practice of prayer, or the profession of reli¬ 
gion; mention is also made of the pious cha- d ie a J lte .J“ 
racter of the descendants of Seth; the brief, but 1 WOr 
touching, story of Enoch’s faith is given; and the family of 
Noah is particularly introduced in connexion with the religion 
of this period. 

After the origin of nations, consequent on the dispersion at 
Babel, we learn something from the Bible, of the fate of divine 
institutions, among the separate portions of man¬ 
kind, so far as these are brought into view in the After the on- 
sacred narrative. In confirmation of the Bible, the 10 1 

earliest fabulous accounts, as they are called, all refer to some 
kind of religion promulgated by the founders of nations, and 
held and practised by the latter. Profane history abounds in 
representations of this nature, and we learn from its pages, 
how the Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, and other ancient 
nations, were committed to the observation of certain religious 
rites and ceremonies. Their notions and tenets also on this 
subject have been occasionally transmitted to us, and although 
these, in most instances, are extremely vague and absurd, they 
evidently betray a common origin. Thus the universality of 
religion of some sort, in the earliest ages, is a matter of his¬ 
tory: and the same impartial guide introduces Through 
us to an acquaintance with the varying creeds, every age 
forms, and observances of nations since, whether since * 
in their rude or civilized condition.” All seem to have obeyed 



10 


INTRODUCTION. 


that law of the human mind, which bids it to seek repose 
in some sort of religion. 

Our knowledge of the different communities of men at the 
present time, which, by means of improvements in navigation, 
and facilities in travelling, is nearly universal, 
And at the con fi rms the same important truth. Scarcely a 
present time, tribe, however unenlightened, is found, but that 
possesses a kind of religious faith. Perhaps, strictly speaking, 
no one is found without the notion of God, and an invisible or 
future world 5 for although some two or three savage com¬ 
munities may have been reported by travellers to be thus des¬ 
titute, there is reason to believe that further inquiry would 
show the fact to be otherwise. On the whole, it may be safely 
asserted to be a condition of mankind, which is essentially 


universal. 

If the representations above made are correct, religion may 
be supposed to be , in some sense , natural to the human species. 
Hence reli This an i n f erence which must readily suggest 
gionisinsome itself to every reflecting mind. It could not ra- 
sense natural tionally be accounted for, that in every period of 
to man. the world, and among all nations and tribes of 

men, some notion of God and human accountableness, and 
certain modes of worship should prevail, without referring re¬ 
ligion to a settled law or principle of our common nature. A 
want surely exists in the human mind, which can be supplied 
only by some kind of religion. It is a confirmation of the 
mi • • view here taken, that a survey of man as a ra- 
firmed by a tionai creature 01 God, must lead us to believe 
moral survey that, in some sense, religion is natural to him. 
ot man. “ Whoever,” says a writer, “ seriously reflects on 
the powers and capacities of the human mind, regarding them 
as the work of him that doeth nothing in vain, and comparing 
them with those of the inferior creatures, will readily perceive 
that man alone was created to be reliQ'ious. Of all the inha- 
bitants of this earth, none else are capable of attaining any 
knowledge of their Creator, or of rendering him any worship 
or praise. Man alone possesses the capacity of distinguishing 
between truth and falsehood; between moral good and evil; 
and of receiving instruction in social and relative duties, with 
the obligation under which he lies to perform them, and the 
advantages of doing it. He alone is capable of being governed 
by a law, and of being influenced by the proposal of rewards 
and punishments; of acting as under the eye of an invisible 
Observer, and with reference to the future season of retri¬ 
bution.” 


INTRODUCTION. 


11 


But although religion may he said to be thus natural to man, 
it does not follow that the right thing will always be chosen. 
The want before spoken of is a general want, But the rio . ht 
and it may seem to be satisfied, though it should religion is not 
not be in reality, with any and with every form always cho- 
of religion. We say with every form of reli- sen - 
gion; for one people at least, viz. the Athenians, always im¬ 
ported the deities and superstitions of every nation with whom 
they became acquainted, and engrafted them on their own 
creed. The tendencies of nature to some system of faith and 
worship, are not a specific and unerring direction to any one 
system in particular. If they were such a direction, a perfect 
uniformity would have existed in the theology of all nations. 

But this vve now have occasion to remark is not the case. 
Notwithstanding religion, in the above respect, is natural to 
man, a great diversity of religious opinions has -y^ e g n( j a 
prevailed in the world , and different forms and great variety 
ceremonies have been and still are observed, of religions in 
The religious notions and practices of mankind ^ ie world- 
early diverged from one another—the sons of men were soon 
distinguished from the sons of God, the impious from the 
holy—and, notwithstanding the purgation of the world by a 
flood, and the subsequent re-establishment of one common 
faith, no sooner did the earth begin to be peopled again, than 
a diversity of religions took place, each nation and tribe em¬ 
bracing some peculiarity of its own. Such has been the fact, 
through all the intervening periods of history, to the present 
day. Each distinct portion of the human family, especially 
its larger divisions, has had its separate religious dogmas and 
practices, ranging from pure theism to the grossest idolatry. 
At the present time, there are at least four general forms, or de¬ 
partments of religious belief among mankind: viz. the Christian, 
the Jewish, the Mahometan, and the Pagan, which, for the 
most part, are subdivided into many others. In regard to 
Paganism, it may be remarked, that it is as various as the 
separate portions of people that constitute the Gentile world. 

The causes of this diversity cannot but form an interesting 
subject of inquiry. The inquisitive mind of man very natu¬ 
rally desires to know, how the same being, with It ig j nterest _ 
the same essential wants, should have fallen upon i ng t0 know 
religions so unlike, and often, so opposed to one the causes of 
another. What is there in the circumstances this diversity, 
of human nature, that can afford a clue to this surprising 
fact 

1. Does the variance spoken of arise merely from chance 


12 


INTRODUCTION, 


We are not believers in this phantom, as furnishing a solution 
It does not of any phenomenon. We do not think that it 
spring from is the cause of any thing in existence, much less 
chance. d 0 we suppose that it can account for the variety 

and difference in the religion of mankind. If accident ope¬ 
rated here, it might indeed give a diversity to this propensity 
of nature, or, it might give to it a uniformity. It were just as 
likely to effect the one as the other, only it would not he apt to 
produce a uniformity in variety. It would be infinitely un¬ 
apt to do this. Yet such seems to be literally the case in the 
religions of the human species. They uniformly differ from 
one another, and most of them essentially from the truth. It 
concerns those who believe in chance as the cause of any 
thing, or the cause of such a moral phenomenon, to make 
out the proof. There seems to us to be something extremely 
absurd in referring to contingency merely, as the cause of an 
effect, when, by the nature of the word, it neither is, nor can 
be known as such a cause. 

2. Does the above diversity arise from circumstances fo¬ 
reign or external to the mind, such as time, location, climate, 

Nor from ex- or country? It is not unnatural to suppose that 
ternalcircum- such circumstances might modify, in a small de- 
stances. gree, the religions of mankind; but they could 

not well produce such essential and irreconcilable differences 
as prevail. Religions exist in perfect diversity or contrariety in 
situations where we might suppose they would be the same, or 
nearly the same, so far as the operation of these extraneous 
causes is concerned. At the same period, in the same climate, 
under the same government, among a people speaking the same 
language, there are found often the most dissimilar religions, 
creeds, and practices. What one class esteems as divine, an¬ 
other abhors as sacrilegious. Where there is little diversity 
in other respects, such as the features of nature, the form of 
government, or the civil habits, there is often a wide differ¬ 
ence in religion. A Mahometan, whether in Asia or Africa, 
invokes the impostor, and his credulity flourishes equally 
well, on the table-lands of the one, as amid the deserts of the 
other. A Jew is found the same all the world over, and, in 
religion, owns no communion with his Christian neighbours. 
Creeds are believed and ceremonies are observed, both of the 
most opposite kinds, under the same physical and social cir¬ 
cumstances. 

3. Does again the diversity spoken of, proceed from any 
necessary tendencies of the human mind to difference or op¬ 
position? It would be more than could be expected from 


INTRODUCTION. 


13 


human nature as we now find it, that mankind N f 
should think and act exactly alike on this subject, necessity in 
On no subject, is there a perfect coincidence of the mind for 
views and practices. On this account, some dif- difference. , 
ferences are to be looked for, at least, as mankind are at pre¬ 
sent situated. But in most things, especially those of a prac- 
tical nature, those differences need not be essential. They are 
not so necessary as that mankind cannot act together, and 
realize the important ends of civil society. Certain advan¬ 
tages as to information, seem to bring most men into a reason¬ 
able measure of conformity to one another. It cannot be 
thought, therefore, that there is any more necessity in the 
mind itself for diversity in religion, than there is as to the other 
great interests of life. The mind is not changed in its attri¬ 
butes, when it acts in respect to religion. And the diversity 
is not, in fact, to be traced to such a source. There is no 
irreversible fate here. Besides, we can hardly suppose from 
the nature of the case itself, that there could be a necessary 
tendency in the mind to difference or opposition in the affair 
of religion, or the intercourse of the soul with God. None 
could seriously maintain that in such a concern, he would 
have made mankind with any invincible tendency to differ¬ 
ence, or with so strong a tendency, as that it would be next to 
miraculous that they should agree. On so vital a subject, he 
certainly would be apt to give them freedom of choice, either 
to agree or disagree. He would be most unapt to bind them 
to the dire necessity only of disagreeing. 

4. Does the diversity in question spring from the want of a 
divine revelation ? As believers in such a revelation, we must 
answer in the negative. Abundant proof could Nor from the 
be presented, were it necessary, that mankind want of a re- 
are in possession of a revelation from God. That relation, 
revelation is found in the Bible; but we shall here take for 
granted the authenticity and divine authority of that sacred 
book. Its claims to be considered as containing the revealed 
will of God have been too often admitted, to be denied 
at this day—a day when its prophecies are so amply ful¬ 
filling, and its effects on the heart and life, wherever received, 
are so decidedly excellent. Varying human faiths are not 
then owing to the want of a divine revelation—a revelation di¬ 
recting all men how they should believe, feel, and act in re¬ 
spect to God and invisible realities. Such is the nature of the 
revelation which is given to us in the Bible. Its truths are 
clearly announced; the object, mode, and obligations of reli¬ 
gious worship, are distinctly pointed out. The only true reli- 
2 


14 


INTRODUCTION. 


gion, in its different dispensations, is communicated to us in full 
and satisfactory details. Had God left men without the light 
of his word, it might be expected that they would wander in 
darkness. If he had not informed them respecting the only 
divine system of religion, a reason might be found in that cir¬ 
cumstance, for the almost endless diversity which exists in 
creeds, and in the objects and modes of worship. But, now, 
this cannot be the cause of that diversity, since a divine revela¬ 
tion is possessed, given to mankind in the first ages of the world, 
continued for a long period by tradition, and at length commit¬ 
ted to writing, as its portions were completed from time to time. 

5. Passing by the aforenamed, as inadequate causes of the 
variety of religious professions among men, is not the proper 
explanation to be found in the radical depravity 
from hum^n ^ l luman h eart ? I s not that the true cause ? 
depravity. ^ seems to us that it can be resolved into no 
other. Of the depravity of the human heart we 
are not permitted to doubt, in view of the decisions of the Bi¬ 
ble, and the results of observation. But existing and reigning 
in all men by nature, it would readily dispose them to a diver¬ 
sity of religious views and practices, or rather to irreligion 
under various names. It would readily dispose them to de¬ 
part from the true belief, and to cast off the restraints of the 
divine authority. They would be prone to invent many 
schemes and devices with a view to appease an upbraiding 
conscience, and to gratify that ceaseless love of novelty, which 
characterizes the human mind. Except in those in whom the 
effects of depravity are counteracted by divine grace, there 
would exist a continual propensity to depart from God and his 
institutions—to lose sight of religious truth, and become in¬ 
volved in gross darkness and superstition. In such a state, 
the mind is prepared for every absurdity. 

“Nations ignorant of God, contrive 
A wooden one.” 

Hence have ^ e P ce . arose }^ e altars and demons of heathen 
arisen the abo- antiquity, their extravagant fictions, and abomi- 
minations of nable orgies. Hence we find among the Babylo- 
heathen wor- n ians and Arabians, the adoration of the heavenly 
S lip ' bodies, the earliest form of idolatry ; among the 

Canaanites and Syrians, the worship of Baal, Tammuz, Ma¬ 
gog and Astarte; among the Phoenicians, the immolation of 
children to Moloch; among the Egyptians, divine honours be¬ 
stowed on animals, birds, insects, leeks, and onions; among 
the Persians, religious reverence offered to fire; and among 


INTRODUCTION. 


15 


the polished Greeks, the recognition in their system of faith, 
of thirty thousand gods. Hence, moreover, we find at the pre¬ 
sent time among most pagan tribes, the deadliest superstitions, 
the most cruel and bloody rites, and the most shocking licen¬ 
tiousness and vice practised under the name of religion. From 
the darkened views and evil feelings inspired by the depraved 
heart, proceed all those fatal mistakes about God, the way of 
acceptance with him, and the realities of the future world ; all 
those departures from a consistent belief and worship, which 
distinguish every nation, and every portion of the world, ex¬ 
cept where the Bible is strictly received as the rule of life. 

So obvious is it that the depravity of the heart has dictated 
the various false religions that prevail in the world, that even 
the infirmities remaining in pious persons have 
given rise to minor differences among the evan- tions e even^f 
gelical sects of Christians. Every wrong and woodmen have 
perverted feeling of the heart is likely to engen- occasioned 
der a degree of deviation from the truth. Hence smaller differ- 
those unhappy,though not fatal separations which ulLts * 
take place among persons who, on the whole, adhere to the 
same great fundamental principles. Christian integrity secures 
a substantial, though not literal, agreement in the truths and 
observances of religion. If that integrity were perfect in this 
world, or more nearly perfect than it now is, there might lite¬ 
rally be but one creed, and one mode of worship. 

An acquaintance with these different systems of religion, 
while it is calculated to furnish no small entertainment , will 
convey several highly important reflections to 
the reader. We should not, and cannot well 
contemplate such a scene, without learning some 
useful lessons from it, especially as it is connect¬ 
ed with glorious purposes, which God evidently son s. 


The diversity 
of religions 
teaches some 
important les- 


intends to subserve. 

1. A view of these religions, will present to us a melan¬ 
choly account of the apostacy of the human species. It will 
evince the nature and the effects of that apostacy, p resents a 
and thus confirm the scriptural narrative on the melancholy 
subject. It will exemplify the great fact of hu- account of the 
man degeneracy in a form and manner calculated apostacy. 
to convince every candid reader, that original, deep, and wide 
spread corruption, in which the fall of man consists, appears 
in dark lines, in the history of the various religions which man¬ 
kind have embraced. Indeed, the most disgusting exhibitions 
of man’s apostacy are found in many of the religions which 
he has contrived, with a view to supersede the religion derived 


16 


INTRODUCTION. 


from heaven. The awful consequences of the apostacy will 
here be presented in a medium, in which they will appear in 
their undisguised, most hateful character. The lust, impu¬ 
rity, pride, ambition, revenge, malignity, rebellion, unbelief, 
selfishness, in which this primitive defection is manifested, con¬ 
stitute the leading features of those superstitions, to which 
millions in every age have bowed. 

2. A view of these religions, so far as they are departures 
from the truth, will furnish a sad detail of the extent and power 

Shows the of Satan’s empire in the world. Mankind having 
extent and apostatized from God, have, in every nation, and 
power of Sa- in every period of time, been successively brought 
tan’s empire. un( J er the dominion of Satan. They have been 
subject to his influence, obeyed his laws, and in their religious 
rites, often directly paid him homage. In fine, they have been 
his slaves, and he has claimed them as his property. The 
wickedness, in which he delights, they have, in innumerable 
instances, practised. We may form some idea of the extent 
and power of Satan’s empire, from the fact, that ak the nations 
of antiquity, except the Israelites, were idolaters by profession, 
and even the latter were practically idolaters, at times. That 
system of religion was called Polytheism, as acknowledging 
a plurality of gods, who, according to the poet, were no other 
than the chiefs of the fallen spirits, that 

“durst fix 

Their seats long after, next the seat of God, 

Their altars by his altar, gods adored, 

Among the nations round.” 

All these nations worshipped divinities or devils by various 
representations, called idols. Forsaking the service of the 
only living and true God, they paid that homage which is due 
to him, to those beings that are infinitely unlike him in cha¬ 
racter. 

3. A view of the absurd religions which mankind have 
embraced, shows the necessity of a divine revelation—that re- 

Evinces the ve ^ at i° n with which the nations are favoured in 
necessity of a the Holy Scriptures. This exhibits to us the 
divine reveia- true system of religion, and is the umpire to 
tlon - which appeal must ever be made on this subject. 

“To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according 
to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” The 
necessity of a divine revelation is apparent amidst diverse and 
opposing faiths, since nothing but such a revelation could ena¬ 
ble men to know the truth. They would be lost in an endless 
labyrinth of conjectures. Reason alone could not be appealed 


INTRODUCTION. 


IT 


to with a view to determine what is right and what is wrong 
in human belief. But a revelation from God, properly au¬ 
thenticated, as it must be, would prove an unerring guide. It 
would direct mankind to itself, and throw a clear light over 
all the field of moral and religious truth. Without such a 
revelation, so far as man on earth is concerned, it would be to 
him an endless scene of darkness, doubt, and perplexity. 

4. A knowledge of the opposing religious systems among 
mankind, will evince the necessity not only of a divine reve¬ 
lation, but also of the direct influences of the 

a a ^ ' • , . , , Evinces the 

bupreme Agent, in causing mankind to harmo- necessity of di- 

nize in their views. As it is apparent that their rect divine in- 
disagreement, on points so vital, proceeds from Auence in or - 
depravity of heart; it would seem that light alone lemony* ^ 
is not sufficient to produce union, though it is 
important as an auxiliary or means to this result. That wrong 
state of the heart must be rectified—that depravity must be 
subdued, and this cannot be done except by the Spirit of God. 
He only can directly influence the spirit that is in man, and 
form it to truth and to rectitude. His operations, by removing 
the grounds of opposition and error, will restore harmony of 
views, as a natural consequence. Accordingly, divine influ¬ 
ences are promised, and have been imparted, in a degree, hi¬ 
therto to the children of men. Hence is found that measure 
of agreement, on all essential points, which characterizes all 
evangelical Christians, or those who submit to the Bible, in its 
plain and simple communications. A view, then, of the va¬ 
rious religions of the world, will show the necessity of direct 
divine operations, in producing a uniformity of opinions on 
the subject of religion. 

5. An account of the clashing and absurd religions that 
have controlled such numbers of mankind, will impart an ex¬ 
alted idea of the mercy of God, in the promul- j^ an jf ests t j ie 
gation of Christianity. As the only true reli- divine mercy 
gion—the great centre of divine communica- in the promul- 
tions—the point where all the rays of revelation gation of 
meet, (the Jewish system being only preparatory lllSLltu 1 j* 
to it, though very important in that view,) it will manifest 
God’s benevolent desire to guide and influence mankind aright, 
in respect both to their present and future welfare. When we 
learn the spirit and the requirements of Christianity; when 
we become acquainted with its practical tendencies; how it 
prepares men in the temper of their minds, not only for a bet¬ 
ter world, but to enjoy greater happiness in this; how it ele¬ 
vates their understanding and improves their social condition, 

2* 


18 


INTRODUCTION. 


we cannot but be impressed with a sense of the divine mercy, 
in the invaluable gift. Indeed, no finite mind can fully con¬ 
ceive the importance of the gospel, as the instrument in God s 
hand of effecting the salvation of souls. But we might enter¬ 
tain something like an adequate conception, of the temporal 
blessings conferred by this system on a fallen race. There 
has been, however, even among those who have largely par¬ 
ticipated in these blessings, a remarkable failure duly to ap¬ 
preciate the benignant influence of Christianity in this world. 
Very incorrect ideas on this subject are entertained among the 
mass of mankind, in Christian lands. The error, however, 
is inexcusable. We believe the time is coming, when a very 
different, and much higher, estimate of the gospel will be 
formed, in its effects not only on the spiritual, but on the tem¬ 
poral and social condition of man. It will be felt how much 
we are indebted to it, for all the real blessings we enjoy in 
this life. 

6. A consideration of the kind we speak of, will furnish 
Christians with a powerful incentive to unite in diffusing a 
Affords a knowledge of Christianity. Judging from their 
stroiw incen- own experience of its power, they can but view 
five for uni- this religion as the only corrective of a false faith 
ting to spread anc [ a -wicked practice, and such indeed is the fact. 
Christianity. j t - g t j ie on jy re lig-i on which, by a moral influ¬ 
ence, can displace others. It acknowledges no true religion 
except its own, and never tolerates any other. Indeed, in its 
principles, it is hostile to every other religion, and makes a 
war of extermination against all superstition, idolatry, false 
'worship, unbelief, and vice. In early times, it extinguished 
the religion of pagan Rome, because it would have no com’ 
petitor, because it would own no associate. And it has since 
extended itself, only by displacing other religions, through a 
moral influence. The peaceful exertions of its friends and 
subjects, have been the means of its triumphs hitherto, and 
will doubtless continue so to be, if those triumphs are con¬ 
tinued. Christians reading the sad story of the debasing su¬ 
perstitions and idolatries that still spread over the world, must 
feel powerfully prompted to unite their energies in the w T ide 
and universal dissemination of their religion. And it is a 
pleasing reflection, constituting the great encouragement of 
their labours, that the divine light of Christianity will one 
day dispel all the deep moral darkness which still covers a 
large portion of the earth. That darkness will vanish, as 
fast as the Sun of righteousness shall arise..upon the world, 
With healing in his wings. 


INTRODUCTION. 


19 


Finally; it is delightful to go forward in our contemplations 
to the time when there shall be one religion among men, and 
but one. That time is destined to arrive. The 
voice of prophecy has declared it. “ In the last There will at 

days, the mountain of the Lord’s house shall he religion Ut ° ne 
established in the top of the mountains and shall 
be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it.” 
And he who founded this religion, said in the days of his hu¬ 
manity, “ And other sheep I have which are not of this fold : 
them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice ; and 
there shall be one fold and one shepherd.” After all the con¬ 
flicting views of mankind on the subject of religion; after all 
the diversified forms of error, there shall come a period of 
blessed unanimity, and of the universal prevalence of the 
truth. There will be but one religion, and that one, the glo¬ 
rious gospel of our salvation. 

It is not, however, to be inferred that there may not be dif¬ 
ferent evangelical denominations of Christians; since we are 
by no means permitted to believe, that there will ever be sin¬ 
less perfection on earth. The existence of these denomina¬ 
tions, all “ holding the head”—the same great distinguishing- 
principles, and exercising a mutual liberality of feeling in re¬ 
spect to the less important parts of the system, is not in¬ 
consistent with unanimity in the sense here understood. 
In this case, one religion may be said to prevail, and only 
one, throughout the earth, and among all nations. It will 
be one in its essential peculiar features, and one in the spirit 
and in the practices which will characterize the human 
family. In different sections, in different divisions, supposing 
that all are not to coalesce in one particular denomination, 
will the church universal move on, in her bright career, each 
harmonizing essentially with the other, and all conspiring to 
advance the common object of the believer’s high calling in 
Christ Jesus. 


■ 












. 










•* ' > ■ 














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* 







, 

















- 

- • 











•• 
















PART I. 

HISTORY AND RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES OF THE JEWS. 


CHAPTER I. 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 

An account of the religion of the Jews, may, with great 
propriety, be preceded by a succinct history of that people. 
A recent interesting historian* has pronounced them, without 
reference to their religious belief, as “ among the most re¬ 
markable people in the annals of mankind.” Contemplated 
in connexion with their religion, and as a means of under¬ 
standing it more fully, their history claims our rp lie j i j gtor 
attention, more than that of any other nation. It 0 f the 1 Jews 
instructs us in a different manner from that of peculiarly in- 
any other, because it brings directly into view structive. 
the divine dealings with them. 

The Jews, in the early periods of their history, are known 
under the more general name of Hebrews or Israelites, who 
constituted a community of which the Jews, as 
they were afterwards denominated, were only a Their name, 
part. The origin of their name, and the circumstances of 
their separation from the associated tribes, will appear in the 
course of our narrative. This distinguished race, commonly 
called the people of God, was derived from Descended 
Abraham, lineally descended in the tenth gene- from Abra- 
ration from Shem, the eldest son of Noah. His liam - 
calling of God, which took place 1921 years B. C. is a re¬ 
markable event in history, and deserves a brief notice. 

In obedience to the command of God, Abraham, who was 
a son of Terah, the head of a pastoral family, left Ur in Chal¬ 
dea, his native country, and dwelt with his father Abraham, 
in Haran. Ur was a district to the north east called out of 
of that region, which lies above the confluence Chaldea, 
of the Tigris and Euphrates, and became afterwards the seat 
of the great Babylonian monarchy. Haran was a city situ¬ 
ated in the north west part of Mesopotamia. The former 
place, from the signification of the name, was supposed to be 
particularly infected with idolatry, and hence the reason of 

* Rev. H. H. Milman. 




22 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


the command, connected with the purpose of God to mak 
Abraham the father of a great and peculiar nation. By th 
T p same command, after Terah’s death, he wen 

into the land of Canaan, which God promised t 
his posterity. They were to be included within the bounda 
ries of that country. 

The divine design, in thus setting apart one family from th 
rest of mankind, was to preserve the true religion in the 
God’s desio-n wor ^> the existence of which became endan- 
herein, was*to gered by the prevalence of polytheism, and to 
preserve the prepare the way for the great work of redemp- 
true religion, t j on j esus Christ. God promised to protect, 
bless, and multiply his posterity in an extraordi¬ 
nary manner, and made the significant and cheering declara 
tion, applicable to the Saviour, who, according to the flesh, 
descended in the line of Abraham, that in his seed ail the fa¬ 
milies of the earth should be blessed. 

Abraham having acquired a name by his wealth and piety, 
and having passed through various scenes of prosperity and 
Leaves Isaac trial, died at an advanced age, leaving behind him 
as the child of several sons, of whom only Isaac was the child 
promise. 0 f promise. Ishmael, by Hagar, the maid of 
Abraham’s wife, became the progenitor of a distinct tribe or 
nation. The Arabs, to this day, claim to be descended from 
the son of Hagar. Two sons were the progeny of Isaac, viz. 
The sons of Esau and Jacob, the former of whom sold his 
Isaac areEsau birth-right to Jacob, who also, by artifice, obtain- 
and Jacob. e q his father’s blessing. Esau was the ancestor 
of the Edomites or Idumeans. In the line of Jacob, whose 
The Israelites name was changed to Israel, were the Israelites 
descended in descended. His twelve sons gave the names to 
the line of Ja- the twelve tribes, of which the nation was corn¬ 
cob- posed. Jacob closed an eventful life, 1689 years 

B. C. in making a prophetic declaration of the future state of 
his descendants, and the period of the coming of the Messiah. 
He had previously been brought out of Canaan into Egypt, 
by means of his son Joseph, whom his brethren through 
envy and malice sold into that country. 

The different occurrences by which Joseph became minis¬ 
ter to the king of Egypt, speak the immediate interposition of 
divine providence, which was preparing for the accomplish¬ 
ment of the promises made to the patriarch Abraham. Of 
these occurrences, which carry on the history of the Hebrews 
for a period, the following summary is given. 

Joseph, who was much loved by his father, and hated by his 
















HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 23 

brethren, upon a certain occasion, which was presented, fell 
into the power of the latter, who sought to slay 
him. This horrid design, however, being pro- Occurrences 
videntially prevented, they availed themselves of l n th< ? l * te 
the opportunity of selling him to a company of 
Ishmaelite slave merchants, who carried him into Egypt, 
where he was bought by Potiphar, an officer of the court. 
Here, at length, he was wrongfully thrown into prison, by a 
false accusation of Potiphar’s wife ; but being proved to be an 
interpreter of dreams, he was released from his confinement, 
and introduced to the notice of Pharaoh, the Egyptian king, 
who, on a certain occasion, wanted his services in this capa¬ 
city. His success in interpreting the king’s dreams, and his 
subsequent conduct, procured for him the highest distinction; 
and he became the administrator of the government. During 
the famine which he had predicted in interpreting those 
dreams, and which reached the land of Canaan, all his bre¬ 
thren, except Benjamin, came to him, to buy corn. Joseph 
knew them , although they did not know him; and by an in¬ 
nocent contrivance, having brought them into Egypt the second 
time, with their brother Benjamin, he declared to them that he 
was Joseph, whom they had persecuted and sold. Their sur¬ 
prise, mortification, and terror, were at first overwhelming; but 
their distressing apprehensions were, in due time, alleviated 
by his assurances of pardon and kindness; and inviting his 
father and the whole family into Egypt, he allot- The family of 
ted them a portion of the territory. Here he Jacob or Israel 
protected them, and under his auspices they be- ^Yjkol into 
came flourishing and happy. 

Joseph continued to rule over Egypt after the death of Jacob, 
who had sojourned in that country seventeen years. His own 
decease, which occurred 1635 years B. C., left the Israelites 
without a protector. In less than forty years from this event, 

they found a cruel tyrant and oppressor in Th e Israelites 
another king who knew not Joseph. This 0 pp resS ed in 
king perceiving that the Hebrews had become Egypt, 
numerous and mighty, resolved to enfeeble 
them ; and therefore condemned them to slavery, and ordered 
that every new-born son among them should be cast into the 
river. The object in view was defeated ; for the people in¬ 
creased in an unexampled manner. 

The history of the Israelites now assumed a very marked 
character. Oppressed by the Egyptian monarch, they cried 
unto God for deliverance, and a divine deliverance they expe¬ 
rienced. Moses, a Hebrew b birth, whose life was preserved 


24 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


Delivered 
from their 


bondage 
that land. 


in 


in an extraordinary manner, notwithstanding the edict of the 
king, was selected as the instrument of saving his country 
men. He was in due time called to his work, and after a se¬ 
ries of miracles, which he performed by the divine assistance, 
he led the people out from before Pharaoh, into 
the region bordering on the promised land. The 
consequence to many of the Egyptians, was 
their destruction ; for Pharaoh and his army pur¬ 
suing the Israelites through the Red Sea, were 
overwhelmed with its waters. 

The people were no sooner delivered from the Egyptians, 
than they murmured against Moses, on account of the want of 
food; to satisfy them God sent first a great quan¬ 
tity of quails, and the next morning, manna, which 
fell regularly every day except on Sabbath days, 
during the time in which they remained in the 
Again, the people murmured for water, and Mo¬ 
ses, by the Lord's command, caused a supply to issue from a 
rock. At this juncture the Amalekites attacked Israel, and 
were defeated by Joshua, who afterwards became their leader. 

The people soon after arrived at Mount Sinai, 
from which God gave them his law. During, 
however, the absence of Moses in the mount, 
they were guilty of an act of idolatry, in conse¬ 
quence of which three thousand of them were put to 
death. 


They mur¬ 
mur after their 
deliverance. 

wilderness. 


They receive 
the law at Si¬ 
nai. 


In the course of the second year after the retreat from 
Egypt, Moses numbered the children of Israel, from twenty 

The ieo Die ^. ears anc ^ upwards, and there were found 
numberecMhe s * x hundred an d three thousand five hundred 
2 d. year after aa d fifty men, able to go to war, besides the Le- 
their retreat. vites. About this time, twelve men were sent 
to s Py land of Canaan, who, with the ex¬ 
ception of Joshua and Caleb, reported unfavourably 5 a cir- 
cumsttmce which caused the people to murmur. Upon this 
offence, God condemned all those who were twenty years and 
upwaids when they came out of Egypt, to die in the wilder¬ 
ness, except Joshua and Caleb. As a punishment for their 

They wander murmurs ’ the Israelites began to travel in the 
40 years in the wilderness, 1489 years B. C. At this juncture, 
wilderness. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, revolting against 
Moses, were swallowed by the earth with two 
hundred and fifty of their associates. After wanderino- in the 
wilderness forty years, and frequently rebelling against God, 
this people were conducted by the hand of Moses in sight of 













HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


25 


Canaan, when he died, without entering it him- Moses die( | 
self. His death occurred on Mount Nebo, in the 0 n mount Ne- 
land of Moab, after he had first taken a view of bo. 
the promised resting place of Israel. 

The successor of Moses was Joshua, who has the honour 
of having conducted the people at last into Canaan. Having 
led them to the banks of the Jordan, whose j oshua con _ 
waters divided to afford them a passage, he ducted the Is- 
brought them safely over it, into their fair inhe- raelites into 
ritance. He conquered thirty-one cities in the Canaan, 
course of six years. 

The people, though they had been highly favoured, were 
perpetually inclined to forsake the worship of Jehovah, and 
to pollute themselves with the abominations of the heathen, 
who dwelt among and around them. For these sins, they 
were repeatedly brought into bondage and consequent distress. 
With a view to their deliverance at such times, 
certain leaders, called Judges , were divinely ap- U p U f 0 f e t hem Se 
pointed, who directed the people, with some in¬ 
termission, during the space of three hundred and fifty years. 
Occasions arose in which these leaders performed the most 
meritorious services. They defeated the enemies of their 
country, and contributed much to establish the nation in its 
possessions. The people paid a high respect to these offi¬ 
cers, and also to the priests, but they acknowledged no other 
king than God. 

As this state of things, so long continued, became irksome 
to the Israelites, and they desired a king, so as to be like the 
nations around them, a king was granted to them, but with 
the expressed disapprobation of their great spiritual Ruler. 
Saul, the son of Kish, was the first king of Israel. The commu _ 
Having been privately anointed by Samuel, he n j t y 0 f the Is- 
was afterwards publicly proclaimed, 1079 years raelites be- 
B. C. The nomination of Saul took place by a mo ' 

divine instruction, but may be admired on the narc 
plainest principles of human policy. He was Saul the first 
selected from a tribe which could not well be an ing- 0 Isiael - 
object of jealous}?-, like the great rival tribes of Judah and 
Ephraim, and he belonged to a part of the country which 
was most exposed to enemies, and which of course felt most 
interested in repelling them. Besides, nature had marked 
him out for no common man. He possessed a tall and stri¬ 
king person—an eminent distinction in the East—and he 
proved himself, at times, capable of lofty aims. His reign 
was prosperous at first; he gained important victories over 
3 


x 


26 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


Perishes mis¬ 
erably. 


David sue 
ceeds Saul. 


his enemies, particularly the Ammonites, Philistines, and 
Amalekites; but his evil propensities at length obtaining the 
mastery over him, he spent the last part of his life in a most 
unhappy manner, and met with signal disasters and ill suc¬ 
cess in the management of his kingdom. He perished 
miserably. Being at war with the Philistines, 
his army was routed, three of his sons were 
slain, and he himself having received a wound, 
and fearing to fall into the hands of his enemies, took a 
sword and fell upon it. 

He was succeeded by David, who had been previously 
anointed king. This prince reigned at first only over the 
tribe of Judah; but after the death of Ishbo- 
sheth, a son of Saul, who had assumed the 
government of the tribes, he reigned over the 
whole of Israel. He spent a very active and perilous life, 
and among the people whom he conquered were the Philis¬ 
tines, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Syrians. By his 
wise and vigorous administration he raised his people to the 
highest pitch of national prosperity and happiness. He had, 
towards the latter part of his reign, some domestic troubles, 
and was in danger from an insurrection of his subjects, a por¬ 
tion of whom had attached themselves to his ambitious son 
Absalom ; but he lived to see his enemies destroyed, and he 

TT . , left a rich and flourishing realm to his successor. 

His character. n •! a i i .? i • 

David, though he greatly erred m one or two 

instances, was a man of distinguished talents, bravery, and 

piety. As a composer of sacred poetry for the use of the 

church, he will be remembered and admired to the end of 

the world. 

The wise and rich Solomon was his son and successor. 
From the accession of this prince to the throne of the Israel- 
Solomon king ites, a period of profound peace and prosperity 
of Israel. was enjoyed by that people throughout his reign. 
The most important undertaking of Solomon was the build¬ 
ing and dedication of the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem. 
This temple was completed in seven years. It was a most 
Builds the magnificent, sumptuous, and costly edifice. The 
temple. value of the materials, and the perfection of the 

workmanship, rank it among the most celebrated structures of 
antiquity. It was not very large, being little more than ninety 
feet in length, thirty in breadth, and forty-five in height; but 
was finely proportioned, and, together with a grand porch, 
was splendidly ornamented. 

As soon as Solomon had finished this noble structure, he 




HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


27 


employed his artificers upon three other buildings, two for 
himself, and a third for Pharaoh’s daughter. He 
was occupied almost thirteen years in erecting other 

them; so that he finished three famous edifices, stluctuies * 
with all their costly furniture, utensils, and ornaments, within 
the space of twenty years. To supply all these, and his other 
vast expenses, he built a navy upon the coast of 
the Red sea, and put it under the care of some Somces of 
expert Tyrian sailors, who, with his own men, Uea * 
went with it to Ophir, which was probably situated on somo 
part of the eastern coast of Africa, and in about three years 
brought back an immense weight of gold and silver, besides 
several kinds of precious stones, spices, ebony, and other 
rarities. Besides these, there was the traffic of the Mediter¬ 
ranean, carried on through the Tyrian merchants, and the 
inland commerce of Egypt, Arabia, and Assyria, all of which 
were highly important. From these various sources it was, 
that the precious metals, and all other valuable commodities, 
were in such abundance, that, in the figurative language of 
the sacred historian, “ silver was in Jerusalem as stones, and 
cedar trees as sycamores.” 

Besides the works already mentioned, Solomon built some 
fortresses in Lebanon, probably to secure a free communica¬ 
tion between his kingdom and that of Syria. He Bu ; Ws t}ie 
built two cities, as stations, to protect his inland c j t i es ^ *r od _ 
commerce; these were Tadmor and Baalath, the morand Baal- 
one the celebrated Palmyra, and the other Baal- ath - 
bee. These, and many others, which time forbid us to par¬ 
ticularize, were the works by which his peaceful reign was 
distinguished. No wars occurred, except in the instance of 
bringing under his yoke the remainder of the Canaanites, and 
making them tributary. 

Solomon exceeded in wisdom all who went before him; 
but in his old age he took many wives and concubines out of 
the idolatrous nations around him, who cor- ow-iripr 
rupted his heart. The Lord, therefore, declared 
by the prophet Abijah, that he would divide the kingdom 
after his death, and give ten tribes to Jeroboam, one of his 
domestics. As an immediate punishment of his effeminacy 
and idolatry, the Lord stirred up certain adversaries against 
him; and though the principal evil threatened against Israel, 
was not to occur in his day, yet he had the mortification of 
knowing that it would be inflicted under the administration 
of his son, and that his own conduct was the procuring cause. 
We cannot but .think that he repented of his awful defection 


28 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


from duty, though nothing is recorded in the Bible on this 
subject; and it is certain that all ought to be profited by the 
memorials which he has left of his wisdom, and by his sound 
religious maxims. He died after a reign of forty years, and 
with him expired the glory and the power of the Hebrew 

monarchy. . . 

Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, began to reign over the 

Israelites 975 years B. C. Having refused to lighten the 
Rehoboam yoke his father had imposed on his subjects, ten 
succeeds Solo-tribes revolted, and followed Jeroboam, as had 
mon. been denounced by the prophet. The tribes of 

Judah and Benjamin alone remained faithful to Rehoboam. 
The national Thus the national union was dissolved, and 
union dissolv- the Hebrew kingdom never recovered this fatal 
ed. blow. From this time Judah and Israel are 

separate kingdoms. Although Rehoboam, at first, thought 
of having recourse to arms to compel, if possible, the revolted 
portion of his people to submission, he thought better of the 
subject, and turned his attention wholly to the fortifying of his 
own dominions. 

The kingdom of the Ten Tribes , or the Israelites, was 
governed by a succession of vicious and idolatrous monarchs \ 
Jeroboam king and wars and feuds, treachery and murder, 
of the Ten marked their history in a shocking manner. 
Tribes. Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, of the tribe ol 

Ephraim, was their first king. It is emphatically said of him 
in scripture, that he made Israel to sin. To prevent his sub¬ 
jects from going to Jerusalem to sacrifice, which place ha 
feared might become again the centre of the na- 
to^sin SeS * Srael tional union, he set up two golden calves, the 
one in Bethel and the other in Dan, which the 
people worshipped. Concerning these calves it has been 
observed, that they were not, strictly speaking, idols, but were 
speciously contrived as symbolical representations, probably 
preserving some resemblance to the cherubim, of which the 
ox was one of the four constituent parts. Still, they were set 
up in no less flagrant violation of the law, than if they had 
been the deities of Egypt, to which they bore a great likeness. 
For this conduct God declared that his whole house should 

Defeated in be cut off In a conflict with Abijah, the king 
war by the of Judah, Jeroboam was totally defeated, with 
king of Judah, the } oss 0 f h ve hundred thousand men. The 
disaster preyed on his mind, and he never after recovered 
his power or enterprise. 

He was succeeded by Nadab, his son, who had for his 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


29 


successors Baasha, Elah, and Zimri. The wickedness of 
these kings is the most remarkable circumstance « , 

m their reigns. Zimn enjoyed the crown only w icked kirws 
seven days. The beautiful city Tirzah, in which succeed as Na- 
he was besieged by Omri, being taken, he burnt ^ab, Baasha, 
himself to death in his palace. Omri then occu- ah ’ &c ' 
pied the throne;he built Samaria, or transferred the royal re- 
dence to that place, which thenceforth became the capital of 
his kingdom, and was so long the hated rival of Jerusalem. 

The apostaty of the ten tribes, and the wickedness of their 
kings, did not reach their height till the accession of Ahab, 
the son of Omri, B. C. 919. This prince mar- Ahab kin "■ of 
ried Jezebel, the fierce and cruel daughter of the Israel, 
king of Sidon. Under her influence, the Sido- 
nian worship of Baal, the sun, was introduced; . Establishes 
his temples were openly built and consecrated; lcoai >- 
and this cruel and persecuting idolatry threatened to exter¬ 
minate the ancient religion. The prophets were put to death, 
one hundred only having escaped by lying concealed in a 
cave; yet these intrepid defenders of the God of The prophets 
their fathers still arose to remonstrate against remonstrate 
these impious innovations; till, at length, Elijah, against the 
the greatest of the whole, took up the contest, ^p^^amfjez^ 
and defied and triumphed over the cruelty, both e p e j jp s w ^ e> 
of the king and his blood-thirsty consort. They 
each perished miserably; their death happening by God’s 
avengingon them the blood of Naboth, whom they had killed, 
because he refused, as the law of Moses enjoined him, to sell 
them the fee of the inheritance of his father. Ahab was slain 
in battle by a random shot, as had been foretold by Micaiah 
the prophet; Jezebel perished at Jehu’s command, by being 
precipitated from a window according to the prophecies of 

Elijah. 

Ahaziah, Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, and Jehoash, were the 
successors, in turn, of Ahab ; but they heard and saw, uncon¬ 
cerned, the miracles of Elijah and Elisha, whom 
God made use of in endeavours to bring the c fXn)yAha- 
Israelites to repentance. It is unnecessary to 7 .iah, Jehoram, 
notice each of these kings in the separate acts of Jehu, &c. 
their reigns. Of Jehu it may be observed, that he 
was a captain under Jehoram, was anointed king ai 0 iaiac er ' 
by the prophet Elisha ; and though a wicked man, was the in¬ 
strument of executing the Lord’s vengeance upon his impious 
contemporaries. He killed Jehoram and the seventy sons of 
Ahab ; and after having slain all the priests of Baal, he de- 


30 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


stroyed the images, and the house of their god. Concerning 
Jehoash it must be remarked, that he was successful as a war¬ 
rior. He defeated Benhadad, king of Syria, in three battles. 
In a war against Amaziah, king of Judah, he took him prison¬ 
er, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, plundered the temple 
and the king’s palace, and carried away the spoil to Samaria. 

The kingdom of Israel now began to recover its strength, 
after having been brought low, under its latter kings, by the 
Israel recovers power of Syria. Jeroboam II. an able prince, had 
its strength succeeded Jehoash, B. C. 822, and pursuing his 
under Jerobo- father’s successes, re-established the whole fron- 
an1, tier, from Hamath to the Dead sea ; even Damas¬ 

cus, the Syrian capital, surrendered to his forces. But the 
kingdom which was to remain in the line of Jehu to the fourth 
generation, at the death of Jeroboam, fell into a 
A state of an- frightful state of anarchy. At length, after eleven 
ciciy o ovs. y earg tumult, his son Zachariah obtained the 
sceptre, but was speedily put to death by Shallum; Shallum, 

. in his turn, by Menahem ; Menahem, a sangui- 

and others sue- ^ V T ™ Ce ' ten y ears ; d ™§' which 

ceed. the fatal power of the great Assyrian empire 

was rapidly advancing to universal conquest. 
Pul, the monarch who ruled at Nineveh, was now pushing 
his victories over Syria, and began to threaten the independ¬ 
ence of Israel. Menahem only delayed the final servitude, 
by submission and tribute, which he wrung from his people 
by heavy exactions. This prince was succeeded by his son, 
Pekahiah, who, in ten years after, was put to death by a new 
usurper, Pekah, the son of Remaliah. 

The dissensions between Israel and Judah, which had all 
along existed, now arose to a great height. Pe- 
Pekah, the p- a h was the last able or powerful king of the 

of Israel. ten tnbes - In conjunction with Rezm, king of 

Syria, he made war against Judah. In one of 
the engagements, Judah lost one hundred and twenty thou¬ 
sand men, and many more were carried into captivity. These 
latter, however, were soon restored to their homes. The king¬ 
dom of Israel was now fast hastening to its end. Pekah was 
assassinated; another period of anarchy lasted for several 
years, till at length the sceptre fell into the feeble hands of 
Hoshea, who had instigated the murder of Pekah. A new 
and still more ambitious monarch, Shalmaneser, now wielded 
the power of Assyria, Hoshea attempted to avert the final 
subjugation of his kingdom by the payment of a tribute, but 
being detected in a secret correspondence with the king of Egypt, 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


31 


called So, the Assyrian marched into the king- The king¬ 
dom, besieged Samaria, which after an obstinate d ?*f of IsraeI 
resistance of three years, surrendered, and thus Assyrian the 
terminated for ever the independent kingdom of power and ex- 
Israel. ists no more. 

Pul and Tiglath Pileser had already swept away a great 
part of the population from Syria, and the Transjordanic 
tribes : and Shalmaneser, after the capture of Samaria, carried 
off vast numbers of the remaining tribes to a mountainous re¬ 
gion between Assyria and Media. From this period, history 
loses sight of the ten tribes as a distinct people. A few re¬ 
mained in their native country, and became intermixed with 
strangers. The descendants of these mingled 
races were afterwards known by the name of wh™ 1 became 
Samaritans. What became of those who were of the ten tribes 
carried away, is a matter of conjecture to this of whom the 
day. Some suppose that they were totally lost ^ st ^^ re car ' 
and absorbed in the nations among whom they ne away> 
settled. The learned Prideaux is of this opinion. Others 
find reason to believe that they still exist in some unknown 
and inaccessible regions, where they await the final restoration 
of the twelve tribes to their native land. Others even trace 
the Jewish features, language, and religion, in different tribes, 
such as the Afghans of India, or, with still more improbabi¬ 
lity, the aborigines of America. 

To return to the period when the nation of Israel was sepa¬ 
rated into two great communities, we have to observe, that 
Hehoboam, whose sceptre was confined to the Rehoboam 
tribes of Judah and Benjamin, had scarce conti- king of Judah 
nued three years in the service of the true God, fell into idola- 
before he fell into the idolatry of the border- tr y* 
ing nations. For this enormity, God stirred up a potent ad¬ 
versary against him, Shishak, king of Egypt, who took many 
of his fenced cities, and plundered the treasures of the tem¬ 
ple and palace of Solomon. 

Concerning the kings of Judah after this time, it may be re¬ 
marked in general, that several of them were good and pious 
men, and adhered to the worship of Jehovah. 

Others of them imitated the profligate kings of The people of 
Israel, lhe people whom they governed, and j ews 
who have survived to the present time, are called 
Jews , in distinction from Israelites, the name once applied to 
the whole twelve tribes. 

The successor of Rehoboam was Abijah, who assumed the 
government B. C. 958, and reigned three years. His reign 


HISTORY OF TIIE JEWS. 


32 


Abijah the 
successor of 
Rehoboam. 


was signalized by his victory over Jeroboam, as 
already related. Asa, his son, next ascended the 
throne, who proved to be a prudent and religi¬ 
ous prince. The first ten years of his reign were 
blessed with peace. At the expiration of that time, he saw 
his kingdom attacked by a prodigious number of Cushites, 
with Zerah, the Ethiopian, at their head. Asa, relying on the 
Asa 11 a of armies, repelled them with success. He 
the Cushites 6 P ursu ed the wise policy of establishing the nation¬ 
al religion in all its splendour and influence, 
and he had the pleasure of seeing multitudes flock to him from 
several of the revolted tribes, whom his zeal drew away from 
the king of Israel. 

After a reign of forty-one years, Asa was succeeded, B. C. 
918, by his son, Jehoshaphat. This prince is honourably spo- 
. ken of in scripture, for his piety and justice. In 

is kirw. 1 ^ mt ^ le year of his reign, he sent some of the 
principal officers of his court, with a competent 
number of priests and Levites, with copies of the Pentateuch, 
to instruct his people, throughout his kingdom, in the true re¬ 
ligion. At the same time, he fortified all the considerable 
places of the land, and put garrisons in them, as well as in 
those which his father had taken from the kings of Israel. 

The nation His kingdom was in a high state of prosperity: 
is prospered, both the Philistines and Arabs, were reduced "to 

Jehoram the necessity of paying tribute. Jehoshaphat was 
-^Ahaziah succeeded by his son Jehoram, and his grandson 

° Ahaziah, who had for his successor the princess 

Athaliah, in whose reign the affairs of Judah altered for the 
worse. Jehoram having married Athaliah, daughter of Ahab, 
was seduced into the idolatry of that wicked family, which 
drew upon him the vengeance of heaven. Jehoram and 
Ahaziah, with the greater part of the royal family, were slain 
about the same time with those of Israel, by Jehu, who ima¬ 
gined them to be friends and allies of the house of Ahab. 
The kingdom Athaliah showed herself a worthy descendant of 
suffers under that wicked stock, and the most bloody scenes de- 
a ian * filed the royal palace of Jerusalem. ‘ She seized 
the vacant throne, massacred all the seed royal, excepting one 
child, Joash, who was secreted in the temple by his fatlier’s 
sister, the wife of the high priest. Athaliah maintained her 
oppressive government for six years, during which the temple 
was plundered, and the worship of Baal established. She 
met with a deserved fate. 

Joash succeeded Athaliah. He reigned with justice, as long 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


33 


Falls by a 
conspiracy. 

Azariel his 
successor. 


as Jehoiada the high priest lived. After his death having fallen 
into idolatry, Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, re- j oas h suc- 
proved him for this sin, and was stoned by the ceeded Atha- 
hing’s order. God then raised against him the liah * 
king of Syria, who plundered Jerusalem. His own servants 
also conspired against him, and slew him in his bed, in the 
fortieth year of his reign. The first act of Ama- 
ziah, the son and successor of Joash, was to do re jjned ^first 
justice on the murderers of his father; but with w £h success, 
merciful conformity to the law, unusual in such 
times, he did not involve the children in the treason of their 
fathers. This prince was prospered in the early part of his 
reign, but his success in war filled his heart with pride and 
vanity. His subjects having become disaffected towards him, 
he fell a victim to a conspiracy within the walls 
of his palace: he fled to Lachish, but was slain 
there. His son Azariah, or Uzziah, assumed the 
royal power, 809, B. C., and commenced a long, 
religious, and therefore prosperous reign of fifty- 
one years. He made successful wars against the Philistines, 
and Arabians. Intoxicated, however, with prosperity, he went 
into the temple to burn incense upon the altar, and the Lord 
struck him with leprosy for his presumption. Jotham took 
the reins of government, during the life-time of 
his father Uzziah, and proved to be a wise and otiam in ^* 
pious prince. 

The son and successor of Jotham was Ahaz, whose impie¬ 
ties made his reign peculiarly unfortunate-and inglorious. He 
was scarcely seated on his throne, when his kingdom was in¬ 
vaded by the joint forces of Pekah, king of Israel, and Rezin, 
king of Syria. In his extremity, he had recourse to the king 
of Assyria, whose assistance he purchased with all the gold 
and silver he could find in the temple and city, and with the 
promise of a yearly tribute. Delivered by the assistance of 
Tiglath-pileser from his enemies, he forgot his danger, and 
instead of adoring Jehovah, shut up his temple, Ahaz esta _ 
whilst he reared others in every corner of Jeru- tablished the 
salem, and throughout the land offered sacrifices Syrian wor- 
to the Syrian gods. In this manner he finished - slll P* 
his impious reign, and was succeeded by his son, Hezekiah. 
The first act of the new king was to restore all Hezekiah re- 
the branches of the worship of God, which were formed the na- 
entirely neglected, in the former reign. While tlon * 
thus employed, he was blessed with success equal to his piety. 
Find in o- himself strong enough to assert his independence, he 


34 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


refused to pay the tribute which the Assyrians had exacted 
from his predecessor, and taking the field against the Phi¬ 
listines, his arms were attended with such success, that in a 
short time, he regained all that had been lost during the un¬ 
fortunate reign of Ahaz. Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, 
upon the refusal of Hezekiah to comply with the stipulation of 
Ahaz, invaded his country with a large army. They had just 
returned from Ethiopia, flushed with victory, and breathing 
destruction against the whole kingdom ; but Hezekiah trusted 

Is delivered in God, and thus was released from danger. Be- 
from Sennach- fore Sennacherib had committed any act of hos- 
erlb - tility against Judah, the best part of his army 

was smitten by an angel in one night. This dreadful judg¬ 
ment alarmed the proud Assyrian monarch, and caused him 
to retire, with the utmost confusion, into his capital, where he 
was soon after assassinated by his two sons. Hezekiah died 
in peace in the twenty-ninth year of his reign. 

He was succeeded by his son Manasseh, a king to whoso 
crimes and irreligion, the Jews mainly attribute the dreadful 

Manasseh evils, which shortly after consigned them to ruin 
succeeds He- and slavery. Abandoned of God, for a time, he 
zekiah. was allowed to fall into the hands of Esar-had- 

don, the new sovereign of Assyria. In the dungeons of Ba¬ 
bylon he learned wisdom and piety. Upon his sincere re¬ 
pentance, he was permitted to regain not only his liberty, but 
his kingdom. His son Amon, who succeeded, following the 
early career of his father, fell a victim to a conspiracy among 
After Amon mvn officers. His successor, Josiah, proved 
Josiah comes to one ffi e most pi° us of all the princes of 
to the throne Judah, and quite reformed the Jewish nation, a 
and reforms circumstance, which, for a time, suspended the 
the people. judgments of heaven against that people. He 
reigned thirty-one years in profound peace. He afterwards 
engaged in battle with the king of Egypt, in the valley of 
Megiddo, where he received a wound, which occasioned his 
death. 

The Egyptian king, who was Pharaoh Necho, on his re¬ 
turn to Egypt, took Jehoahaz, a son of Josiah, prisoner, whom 
the people had elected king of Judah, and placing his elder 

Jehoiakim brother on the throne, whose name he changed 
king, and does from Eliakim into Jehoiakim, compelled him to 
wicked y. pay a hundred talents of silver, and one talent 
of gold, as an acknowledgment of vassalage. Jehoiakim, al¬ 
though warned by the writings of several prophets, to conduct 
himself uprightly, added every wickedness which invention 


HISTORY OF TIIE JEWS. 


35 


could suggest, to the horrible abominations of his ancestors. 
At last God gave him and his city into the hands Nebuchad- 
of Nebuchadnezzar, who was just returned from nezzar took 
the conquest of Egypt. This event happened in Jerusalem, 
the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign. Jerusalem was pillaged, 
and all the most beautiful youths of the palace were sent captives 
to Babylon. Jehoiakim was at first put into bonds, and intended 
to be sent away also, but upon his submission and promise 
to pay a yearly tribute, the victor left him as a kind of viceroy 
over his kingdom. But, whilst Nebuchadnezzar was employed 
in other conquests, the king of Judah renounced his subjection, 
and refused to pay the tribute. The Assyrian monarch, exas¬ 
perated at this conduct, sent an army into Judea, which laid 
waste the whole kingdom. This army carried away three 
thousand and twenty prisoners, took and murdered the king, 
and dragged his carcass out of the city gates, where they left 
it unburied. 

His son Jehoiachin was made king; but not gaining the 
approbation of the king of Babylon, was, after a reign of three 
months, with his wives, mother, and the chief jehoiachin is 
officers of the realm, led captive to Babylon by king, and car- 
Nebuchadnezzar, who placed on the throne the ' nt0 Baby- 
nineteenth and last king of Judah, Zedekiah, ano¬ 
ther son of Josiah. But this prince, contrary to advice of the 
the prophet Jeremiah, rebelling against his bene- Zedekiah the 
factor, was, in the eleventh year of his reign, con- last king of 
quered by the king of Babylon. The king, in Judah, 
an attempt to break through the besieging 
forces, was seized, his children slain before his The people 
face, his eyes put out, and thus the last of the carr ! ed awa 3J 
royal house of David, blind and childless, was remained & hi 
led away into a foreign prison. Jerusalem was captivity 70 
destroyed, the temple demolished, and the peo- years, 
pie were carried captive to Babylon, where they 
continued seventy years , in fulfilment of prophecy. 

From the books of Ezekiel and Daniel, we learn what the 
captives endured on their way to Babylon; and it seems from 
the event, that the influence of adversity was very favourable 
on numbers of this people. It brought them to repentance, 
and engaged them in the worship and ordinances of their reli¬ 
gion. Having remained in captivity during the appointed 
period, they were permitted by Cyrus, the Per- Restored by 
sian king, who had conquered Babylon, to re- Cyrus, 
turn to their native land, 536 years B. C. This 
was accomplished under the direction of Zerubbabel and Joshua, 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


36 

their leaders. They soon began the rebuilding of the temple, 
but their enemies prevented them from making any progress. 

Several years afterwards, they commenced the 
' Rebuild the wor k anew, and completed it in the space of four 
tempe ‘ years, 516 B. C. Upon this event they cele¬ 

brated the first passover. 

The Jews, in their dependent state, continued to enjoy a 
degree of prosperity under the sovereigns of Persia, after the 
time of Cyrus. His successors, down to the era of Alexander, 
had, in general, treated them with much kindness. Darius, 
son of Cyrus, favoured the Jews during his long reign. Xerxes 
Favored by confirmed their privileges. Under Artaxerxes, 
the successors they were still more favoured through the influ- 
of Cyrus. ence of his queen, Esther, a Jewess. From this 
prince, who is styled in scripture Ahasuerus, Ezra, a man of 
priestly descent, obtained very liberal presents among the Jews 
remaining in Babylonia, to be applied to the service of the tem¬ 
ple, and authority to re-establish the government according to 
the divine constitution, 480 B. C. Several years afterwards, 
under the same prince, Nehemiah, his cup-bearer, obtained 
The walls leave to go to Jerusalem, and rebuild its walls, 
of Jerusalem He and Joiada, the high priest, reformed many 
rebuilt. abuses respecting tithes, the observation of the 

sabbath, and the marrying of strange wives. 

The Jewish people being again settled by Nehemiah, were 
governed by their high priests, and the council of the elders 
called the Sanhedrin. Under Alexander the Great they con¬ 
tinued to enjoy these immunities and privileges, and he even 
exempted them from paying tribute every seventh year. His 
death proved a calamity to the Jews. From this time, 323 
Judea inva- B. C., Judea was successively invaded and sub- 
ded by the dued by the Egyptians and Syrians, and the in- 
Egyptians,&c. habitants were reduced to bondage. Under the 
priesthood of Onias L, Ptolemy, governor of Egypt, taking 
advantage of the circumstance that the Jews would not fight 
on the sabbath, captured Jerusalem on that day, and carried off 
100,000 persons, whom, however, he afterwards treated kindly. 
When Eleazar was high priest, he sent to Ptolemy Phila- 
delphus six men of every tribe to translate the sacred scrip¬ 
tures into Greek. This translation is the celebrated one called 
the Septuagint, 277 B. C. 

In 170 B. C., Jason, the brother of the high priest, on false 
reports of the death of Antiochus Epipbanes, who at this time 
held the Jews in subjection, raised great disturbances in Je¬ 
rusalem, with a view to secure the high priesthood. Antio- 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


37 


chus, irritated by the frequent revolts of the Antioch s 
Jews, marched to Jerusalem, slew 80,000 peo- w p 0 held t ^’ 0 
pie, took 40,000 captives, and then entered the Jews in sub¬ 
temple, and plundered the treasures. This prince j ect ion, pun¬ 
having commanded the Jews to observe the rites J ) s e ^ n their re " 
of the heathen, and to eat of the sacrifices, 
some of the more conscientious among them chose rather to 
suffer death, among whom were a mother and her seven sons, 
who expired in dreadful tortures. The same year the king’s 
commissioner, who had been intrusted with this iniquitous 
business, was killed by Matthias and his five sons, who there¬ 
upon fled into the wilderness. This was the commencement 
of that noble resistance which was made against the Syrian 
power, under the Maccabees, and which eventuated in the in¬ 
dependence of the nation. 

Judas Maccabeus, the bravest of the sons of Matthias, hav¬ 
ing been chosen by the Jews for their prince and governor, 
made war against Antiochus, and defeated seve- 
ral of his generals. The monarch hearing of bees resisuhe 
the defeat of his troops in Judea, took an oath Syrian power, 
that he would destroy the whole nation. As he 
hastened to Jerusalem, he fell from his chariot, and died mise¬ 
rably. In a battle with a general of one of his successors, 
Judas was killed. He was succeeded by his brother, Jona¬ 
than, who, after many signal services rendered to his country, 
was basely murdered by Tryphon, an officer of the young 
Antiochus, who aspired at the same time to the crown of Sy¬ 
ria. Jonathan was succeeded by Simon his brother, who sub¬ 
dued the cities of Gaza and Joppa, and cleared Judea of many 
of the Syrians. He was murdered in the midst of his con¬ 
quests by his son-in-law, Ptolemy Physcon. 

John Hyrcanus, son of Simon Maccabseus, uniting in his 
person the offices of high priest and generalissimo of the 
army, subdued the enemies of his country, ceas- John Hyr- 
ed to pay homage to the kings of'Syria, firmly canus liberates 
established his government, and is celebrated for 1S countr y- 
his many valuable qualities. He not only delivered his na¬ 
tion from the oppression of Syria, but he made some con¬ 
quests both in Arabia and Phoenicia, turned his victorious arms 
against the Samaritans, and subdued Idumea. At the time of 
his death he had raised the Jewish nation to a very considera¬ 
ble degree of wealth, prosperity, and happiness. He reigned 
twenty-eight years. His sons assumed the title, as well as 
the power of kings ; and the high-priesthood remained in his 
family, though not in the person of the monarch. His de- 
4 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


38 

scendants are distinguished in the history of the Jewish nation 
by the appellation of the Asmonean dynasty , which continued 
about 120 years. His son Aristobulus was his immediate 
successor. This prince caused himself to be crowned long of 
w . . • Judah, and was the first who assumed that title 
tobulus" th S ; after the Babylonish captivity. It is recorded 
first that was that he caused his brother Antigonus to be killed 
called king af- on suspicion of disloyalty; that his mother, claim* 
ter the captivi- ing a r |g.^ t t0 t h e sovereignty by virtue of the 

ty ' will of Hyrcanus, was barbarously starved to 

death ; that his other brothers were kept in close confinement. 
He was fortunate in war; but his successes were soon inter¬ 
rupted by sickness; and’ the deep remorse he felt on account 
of the treatment of his mother, produced a vomiting of blood, 
which speedily closed his wicked life and reign. 

Alexander Jannaeus, brother to the late king, succeeded; he 
considerably extended the kingdom of Judea, by the conquest 
Alexander of all Iturea and some parts of Syria; but the 
Jannaeus his many services which he rendered his country 
successor. were q U { te overlooked, in consequence of his 
cruelty to his subjects. Although he left two sons, he was 
Alexandra immediately succeeded by his wife, Alexandra, 
and others sue- who gave the throne to his eldest son, named 
ceed him. Hyrcanus, a very weak and indolent prince. 
His younger brother, Aristobulus, at first disturbed his suc¬ 
cession ; but he was finally established on his throne by Pom- 
pey, who carried Aristobulus and his family captives to Rome. 
Alexander, one of the sons of Aristobulus, escaping from that 
city, disturbed the peace of Judea, until he was surprised and 
slain by the Scipios, two captains under Pompey. Antigonus, 
a son of Alexander, assisted by the Parthians, dethroned Hyr¬ 
canus, and cut off his ears; but this cruelty was revenged, 
Antigonus being soon after slain by Mark Antony. His 
brother, Aristobulus, who was retained prisoner with the Par¬ 
thians, returned to Palestine, where he lived contented under 
the government of Herod, who had been nominated as the 
successor of Antigonus by the Romans. 

Herod I. was an Ascalonite, and was surnamed the Great. 
Created king of Judea (37 B. C.) by Antony, he was after- 
Ilerod I.reigns. warc ^ s confirmed in the regal possession by Au¬ 
gustus. His reign was splendid, but distinguish¬ 
ed by a singular degree of profligacy. Some time after his 

His wicked- establishment on the throne, in order to please 
pess. Mariamne, the daughter of Hyrcanus, whom he 

had married, he appointed her brother, Aristobulus, high-priest; 










HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


39 


but perceiving that he was much beloved by the Jews, he 
caused him to be drowned while bathing. After the battle of 
Actium, he went to Rhodes to meet Augustus, between whom 
there existed a peculiar friendship. Upon his return, he con¬ 
demned to death his wife, Mariamne, and her mother, Alex¬ 
andra. From this hour his life was a continual scene of 
misery and ferocity. At the instigation of his third son, he 
sentenced to death Aristobulus and Alexander, his children by 
Mariamne, and the next year Antipater himself experienced 
the same fate. In his reign, the sceptre being, as prophesied, 
departed from Judah, Jesus Christ was born, according to 
the vulgar era, A. M. 4004, but really four years . 

sooner. His birth greatly troubled Herod and - s inSt 

the principal Jews, who became apprehensive of 
new wars. After ascertaining the place of his nativity, Herod 
determined on his death, and supposed he had effected it; but, 
by the providence of God, the child was removed out of his 
reach. By this time, Judea was fast sinking into a Roman pro¬ 
vince, and Herod, instead of being head of the Hebrew reli¬ 
gious public, became more and more on a level with the other 
vassal kings of Rome. He died of a most loathsome and pain¬ 
ful disease, or complication of diseases, which we are author¬ 
ized to believe was the direct judgment of God upon him, for 
his enormous wickedness. 

Herod was succeeded by his eldest son, Archelaus, who 
had the title of king, but possessed only a tetrarchy, or fourth 
part of the kingdom of Judea. The rest of the 
country was divided into three more tetrarchies, Archelaus 
which were those of Galilee and Petreea, that of ^ocTthe great. 6 
Iturea, and that of Abilene. Archelaus govern¬ 
ed with great injustice and cruelty, and on this account was 
condemned, after a solemn hearing before Augustus. He 
was banished to Vienne, in Gaul, his estates confiscated, and 
Judea reduced in form to a Roman province. Judea redu- 
His successor in the government of this country ced to a Ro- 
was Herod II., named Antipas, who married man P rovince * 
his brother Philip’s wife. This was the inces- Herod Anti- 
tuous marriage, on account of which John the P as reigns. 
Baptist reproved Herod, as mentioned in the New Testament. 
It was in the time of this Herod, that our Saviour’s crucifixion, 
resurrection, and ascension, occurred. Herod II. enjoyed only 
the tetrarchy of Galilee and Perea. He was succeeded by 
Herod Agrippa, the son of Aristobulus, grandson Herod Agrin- 
of Herod the Great. Caligula, the Roman em- pa on the 
peror, invested him with the tetrarchy of his 1 none ' 


40 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


uncle Philip, and conferred on him the title of king. The 
other tetrarchies fell to his possession shortly afterwards. It 
was this Herod who caused the apostle James to be martyred, 
the apostle Peter to be imprisoned, and was himself smitten by 
an angel and devoured by worms. His son, Agrippa Minor, 
succeeded, and was the last king of the Jews. He, of course, 
received his title and authority from the Roman emperors. 
Suspicion attached to him of having lived in incest with his 
sister Berenice; in other respects, he bore a good character, 
being equitable in his administration, of a generous disposition, 
and paying a strict attention to the externals of religion. It was 
before this Agrippa that Paul pleaded in defence of the gospel. 

All things, however, tended to a rupture between the Ro¬ 
mans, and the Jews, their subjects. From the time of Herod 
Agrippa, Judea had been the theatre of many cruellies, rapines, 
and oppressions, arising from contentions between the Jewish 
priests ; the robberies of numerous bands of banditti, which in¬ 
fested the country ; but more than all, from the rapacious and 
flagitious conduct of the Roman governors. The last of these 
governors was Gessius Florus, whom history represents as a 
monster of cruelty and wickedness, and whom the Jews re¬ 
garded rather as a bloody executioner, sent to torture, than as 
a magistrate to govern them. During the government of 
Felix, his predecessor, a dispute arising between the Jews and 
The Jews Syrians, about the city of Cesarea, their respec- 
arm against tive claims were referred to the Emperor Nero, 
the Romans. a t Rome. The decision being made in favour of 
the Syrians, the Jews immediately took arms to avenge their 
cause. Florus, regarding the growing insurrection with in¬ 
human pleasure, took only inefficient means to quell it. In 
this state of things, Nero gave orders to Vespasian, his gene- 
Vespasian ral, to march into Judea with a powerful army, 
marches Accordingly, accompanied by his son Titus, at 
against them. t} le h eac i 0 f 60,000 well disciplined troops, he 

f jassed into Galilee, the conquest of which country was not 
ong after achieved. While Vespasian was thus spreading 
the victories of the Roman arms, and was preparing more 
effectually to curb the still unbroken spirit of the Jews, the 
intelligence of his election to the imperial throne, induced him 
to depart for Rome 5 but he left the best of his troops with his 
son, ordering him to besiege Jerusalem, and utterly to de¬ 
stroy it. 

Titus pro- Titus prosecuted the enterprise with diligence, 
secutes the en- and besieging the city, he took it within a few 
terprise. months, after the most obstinate resistance of 










HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


41 


which history perhaps gives an account. Twice during the 
siege he offered them very favourable terms, but they were so 
infatuated, that they not only refused his offers, but insulted 
his messenger, Flavius Josephus, in the most wanton and 
virulent manner. After this conduct, there remained no more 
mercy for the Jews. Titus caused the hands of those who had 
voluntarily sought shelter in the Roman camp, to be cut off, 
and sent them back to the city, and others he crucified in the 
sight of their countrymen. Famine, in the mean time, was 
performing its dreadful work within the walls; and pestilence, 
its attendant, raged beyond control. Thousands died daily, 
and were carried out of the gates to be buried at the public 
expense; until, being unable to hurry the wretched victims to 
the grave so fast as they fell, they filled whole houses with 
them, and shut them up. When Titus entered the city, he 
gave it up to be plundered by the soldiers, and most of the 
inhabitants were put to the sword. In pursuance j erusa i em 
of this general order, the city was destroyed to destroyed, 
its foundations, and even the mins of the temple 
were demolished. Josephus says, that the number of the pri¬ 
soners taken during the whole time of the war, was ninety- 
seven thousand, and the number killed in the city during the 
same period, amounted to one million. The Jews, who re¬ 
mained in the country, now paid tribute to the Romans, and 
were entirely subject to their laws. 

After this event, Jerusalem was partially rebuilt, and in 
118 A. C. the inhabitants again attempted to rebel, but were 
speedily overcome. Adrian, the emperor, in- j 3 partially 
censed at the conduct of this stubborn people, re- re built. 
solved to level the city with the earth, that is to 
say, those new buildings which had been erected by the Jews, 
and to sow salt in the ground, on which the place had stood. 
Thus was fulfilled a prophecy of our Saviour, who foretold, 
that neither in the city, nor in "the temple, should one stone be 
left upon another. This, therefore, may be called the final 
destruction of Jerusalem, which took place forty-seven years 
after that effected by Titus. Adrian, however, saw fit, from 
some cause, to build the city over anew, to which he gave the 
name JElia Capitolina. It was a short-lived change, for when 
the Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, 
visited the city, she found it in a forlorn and ruinous state. 

The national existence of the Jews, may be 
considered as having terminated with the destruc¬ 
tion of Jerusalem by Titus. They were no longer 
one people, or in a situation to preserve their in- 
4 * 


The Jews ex¬ 
it no more as 
a nation, but 
are scattered 
over the earth. 


42 


HISTORY or THE JEWS. 


stitutions ns a body. Though numbers remained in their 
native land, yet vast multitudes were dispersed over the face 
of the earth, on which they have ever since been wanderers. 
The reader of the Bible will see in these events a remarkable 
fulfilment of the predictions of the ancient prophets, and of our 
Saviour ; and he will also learn the evil and danger of despising 
divine admonitions, and abusing religious privileges. When 
we meet with one of the descendants of Abraham, (and in 
what place are they not to be met with ?) we see a miracle— 
a living confirmation of the divine veracity—a proof that the 
Bible is true, and an indubitable testimony that there is a God 
who judgeth in the earth. 

It is not our design, neither is it compatible with the brevi¬ 
ty of this sketch, to trace continuously the history of the Jews, 
In the history in their wide dispersions, or in the various coun- 
of the Jews, it tries in which they have existed, since the great 
remains only even (; above recorded. All the purpose that re- 
their condi- mains to be answered, in regard to this division 
tion in more of our subject, is to furnish the reader with a 
modern times, brief account of the condition of this remarkable 
people, in later times, chiefly within the last and present cen¬ 
turies. Their residences and numbers, as recently ascertained, 
will also be given. Abating the circumstance, that the state of 
most nations has ameliorated since the era of their dispersion, 
it will be naturally inferred, that such as their condition now 
is, such it has substantially been for centuries. They have, in 
most instances, reaped the fruits of the common im¬ 
provement ; and those persecutions to which they 
are known to have been exposed, in past ages, 
have, in some measure at least, ceased with the spi¬ 
rit which gave birth to these and other instances 
of bigoted and revengeful feelings. Still it is not to be denied, 
that the Jews, from certain peculiarities in their character and 
manner of life, seem likely to be the last people, who, through¬ 
out the world, will enjoy the happiness of perfect equality in 
rights and privileges, with the rest of their fellow-men. 

The Jews, though widely scattered over the earth, and con¬ 
stituting a portion of almost every nation, present the singular 
phenomenon of a people subsisting for ages, without their 
civil and religious policy, and thus surviving even their poli¬ 
tical existence. Unlike other conquered nations, 
they have never mingled with their conquerors, 
and lost their separate name and character, but 
they invariably constitute a distinct people in 
every country in which they live. This fact enables us tq 


They have 
suffered less 
from persecu¬ 
tion than for¬ 
merly. 


The Jews 
have survived 
their political 
existence. 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


43 


point out their present state with a degree of accuracy, and 
aflords a strong reason for doing it; since, doubtless, import¬ 
ant designs are to be answered by the providence of God in 
preserving this people in so extraordinary a manner. 

In our brief account of their more modern history, we have 
to remark, that at the beginning of the eighteenth century, 
Poland, and the adjacent provinces, had, for 
some time, been the head-quarters of the Jews. Poland the 
In that kingdom they formed the only middle tlie lleatl quar- 
order between the nobles and the-serfs. Almost 
every branch of traffic was in their hands, dern ages. 
They were the corn merchants, shop-keepers, 
inn-keepers; in some towns they formed the greater part of 
the population, in some villages almost the whole. In the 
west of Europe, in the mean time, those great changes were 
slowly preparing, which, before the close of the century, were 
to disorganize the whole frame-work of society. The new 
opinions not merely altered the political condition of the Jews, 
as well as that of almost all orders of men; but they pene¬ 
trated into the very sanctuary of Judaism, and threatened to 
shake the dominion of the rabbins, as they had that of the 
Christian priesthood, to its basis. The Jews were hated as 
the religious ancestors of the Christians, and it became the 
accustomed mode of warfare to wound Christianity through 
the sides of Judaism. The legislation of Frederick the 
Great, almost, as it were, throws us back into the middle 
ages. In 1750 appeared an edict for the general regulation 
of the Jews in the Prussian dominions. It limited the num¬ 
ber of the Jews in the kingdom, divided them into those who 
held an ordinary, or an extraordinary protection from the 
crown. The ordinary protection descended to T j ie Jewg 
one child, the extraordinary was limited to the in Prussia sub¬ 
life of the bearer. Foreign Jews were prohibited jectedto many 
from settling in Prussia; exceptions were ob- ^ 1 e .®.^ nd d,s ^ 
tained only at an exorbitant price. Widows 
who married foreign Jews must leave the kingdom. The 
protected Jews were liable to enormous and especial burdens. 
They paid, besides the common taxes of the kingdom, for 
their patent of protection, for every election of an elder in 
their community, and for every marriage. But though thus 
heavily taxed, they were excluded from all civil functions, 
and from many of* the most profitable branches of trade, from 
agriculture, from breweries and distilleries, from manufac¬ 
tures, from inn-keeping, from victualling, from physic and 
surgery, 


44 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


Nor in more enlightened countries was the public mind 
prepared for any essential innovations in the relative condition 
of the Jews. In England, at the beginning of the eighteenth 
century, their cause was brought forward under the unpopular 
auspices of Tolandthe Freethinker. In 1753 a more import¬ 
ant measure was attempted. A bill was introduced into par¬ 
liament for the naturalization of all Jews who had resided 
In England three Y ears in tlie kingdom, without being absent 
in the ° 18 th more than three months at a time. It excluded 
century, laws them from all civil offices, but in other respects 
at °H ie U f 16 bestowed all-the privileges of British subjects. 
vouTthe^Jews The bill passed both houses, and received the 
were soon royal assent. But the old jealousies only slum- 
abolished. bered, they were not extinguished. So much 
clamour was raised by various classes of the people, that the 
ministry, and the houses of the parliament, found it necessary 
to repeal the obnoxious statutes. 

Their state Italy, till the French revolution, the Jews 

more eligible enjoyed their quiet freedom. In Rome they 
in Italy, till were confined to their Ghetto, and still con- 
the French re- strained to listen to periodical sermons. In the 
maritime towns they continued to prosper. 

In Germany, among the first measures which Joseph II., 
when he ascended the throne in 1780, saw fit to adopt, was a 
plan for the amelioration of the condition of the Jews. In 
Vienna, they had been barely tolerated since their expulsion 
by Leopold the First. After a period they were permitted to 
return. Under Maria Theresa the Jews were suffered to reside 
in Vienna, and enjoyed a certain sort of protection. In the 
other provinces of the empire they had lived unmolested, 
unless, perhaps, by some vexatious local regulations, or popu¬ 
lar commotions in the different cities. Joseph II. published 
his edict of toleration, by which he opened to the Jews the 
In Germa- s °bools, and the universities of the empire, and 
ny they were gave them the privilege of taking degrees as 
tolerated by doctors in medicine, philosophy, and the civil 
Joseph II. l aw . He conferred upon them other important 
privileges, which it is not necessary here to name. Still, 
though they were governed by the same laws with the Chris¬ 
tians, they were liable to a toleration tax, and certain other 
contributions. 

That terrible epoch, the Revolution, found some Jews in 
France : after their final expulsion, a few Portuguese fugitives 
had been permitted to take up their abode in Bourdeaux and 
Bayonne. There w r ere a certain number in the old papal 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


45 


dominions in Avignon. The conquest of the city of Metz, and 
afterwards of Alsace, included some considerable communities 
under the dominion of France. The Jews of this latter pro¬ 
vince presented a remarkable petition in 1780 to the king in 
council. They complained of great oppressions, particularly 
of a capitation tax, which, in addition to the royal patent of 
protection, the lords of the soil exacted, for the right of resi¬ 
dence within their domains, from which not even the aged, 
nor infirm, nor children, nor even the Rabbins In France 
and officers of the synagogue, were exempt. The their grievan- 
appeal to the equity of Louis XVI. was not in ces were re- 
vain—the capitation tax was abolished in 1784; ^ ressedjn part 
and in 1788, a commission was appointed to de- xvi. 
vise means for remodelling, on principles of jus¬ 
tice, all laws relating to the Jews. This plan, however, was 
anticipated or set aside by the revolutionary tribunals, who 
were more rapid in their movements, than the cautious justice 
of the sovereign. In 1790, this class of people, who had 
watched their opportunity, sent in a petition, claiming equal 
rights as citizens. The measure was not passed xJnder the 
without considerable discussion; but Mirabeau revolution 
and Rabaut St. Etienne declared themselves their they were nc- 
advocates, and the Jews were recognized as free citizens. 03 
citizens of the great republic. 

In the year 1806, Napoleon summoned a grand Sanhedrin 
of the Jews to assemble at Paris. We are more inclined to 
look for motives of policy in the acts of this ex- i n 1806,Na- 
traordinary man, than of vanity or philanthropy; poleon sum- 
nor does it seem unlikely, that in this singular moned a San- 
transaction, he contemplated remotely, if not im- ie lin * 
mediately, both commercial and military objects. He might 
hope to turn to his own advantage, by a cheap sacrifice to the 
national vanity, the wide extended and rapid correspondence 
of the Jews throughout the world, which notoriously outstrip¬ 
ped his own couriers, and the secret ramifications of their 
trade, which not only commanded the supply of the precious 
metals, but much of the internal traffic of Europe, and probably 
made great inroads on the continental system, twelve ques- 
It must, however, be acknowledged, that the tions submit- 
twelve questions submitted to the Sanhedrin seem ted to the San¬ 
to refer to the Jews strictly as subjects and citi- 
zens of the empire. They were, briefly, as fol¬ 
lows;—I. Is polygamy allowed among the Jews? II. Is di¬ 
vorce recognised by the Jewish Law ? III. Can Jews inter¬ 
marry with Christians? IV. Will the French people be 


46 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


esteemed by the Jews as strangers or as brethren ? V. In 
what relation, according to the Jewish Law, would the Jews 
stand towards the French'? VI. Do Jews born in France 
consider it their native country ? Are they bound to obey the 
laws and customs of the land? VII. Who elect the Rabbins? 
VIII. What are the legal powers of the Rabbins? IX. Is 
the election and authority of the Rabbins grounded on law or 
custom ? X. Is there any kind of business in which Jews 
may not be engaged ? Xf. Is usury to their brethren forbid¬ 
den by the Law ? XII. Is it permitted or forbidden, to prac¬ 
tice usury with strangers ? The answers of the deputies were 
clear and precise : as they throw much light on the opinions 
of the more enlightened Jews, they are subjoined, with as much 
conciseness as possible, though we suspect, that they are not 
universally recognised as the authoritative sentence of the na- 
tion. I. Polygamy is forbidden, according to a decree of the 
Synod of Worms, in 1030. II. Divorce is allowed, but in this 
respect the Jews recognise the authority of the civil law of the 
land in which they live. III. Intermarriages with Christians 
are not forbidden, though difficulties arise from the different 
forms of marriage, IV. The Jews of France recognise in the 
fullest sense the French people as their brethren. V. The 
relation of the Jew to the Frenchman is the same as of Jew to 
Jew. The only distinction is in their religion. VI. The 
Jews acknowledged France as their country when oppressed, 
—how much more must they when admitted to civil rights ? 
VII. The election of the Rabbins is neither defined nor uni¬ 
form. It usually rests with the heads of each family in the 
community. VIII. The Rabbins have no judicial power; the 
Sanhedrin is the only legal tribunal. The Jews of France 
and Italy being subject to the equal laws of the land, whatever 
power they might otherwise exercise is annulled. IX. The 
election and powers of the Rabbins rest solely on usage. 
X. All business is permitted to the Jews. The Talmud 
enjoins that every Jew be taught some trade. XI. XII. 
The Mosaic institute forbids unlawful interest; but this 
was the law of an agricultural people. The Talmud allows 
interest to be taken from brethren and strangers; it forbids 
usury. 

The laws of France relating to the Jews have remained 
unaltered: in Italy, excepting in the Tuscan dominions, they 
have become again subject to the ancient regu- 
of e theJews ! atio . ns - In Germany, some hostility is yet lurk¬ 
improving in ipg tbe popular feeling, not so much.from re- 
Germany at ligious animosity, as from commercial jealousy, 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


47 


in the great trading towns, Hamburgh, Bremen, present, parti- 
Lubeck, and particularly Frankfort, where they in 

are still liable to an oppressive tax for the right 
of residence. Nor did the ancient nobility behold, without 
sentiments of animosity, their proud patrimonial estates, falling, 
during the great political changes, into the hands of the more 
prosperous Israelites. Nevertheless, their condition, both po¬ 
litical and intellectual, has been rapidly improving. Before 
the fall of Napoleon, besides many of the smaller states, the 
grand duke of Baden, in 1809, the king of Prussia, in 1812, 
the duke of Mecklenburgh Schwerin, in 1812, the king of Ba¬ 
varia, in 1813, issued ordinances admitting the Jews to civil 
rights, exempting them from particular imposts, and opening 
to them all trades and professions. The act for the federative 
constitution of Germany, passed at the congress of Vienna, in 
1815, pledges the diet to turn its attention to the amelioration 
of the civil state of the Jews throughout the empire. The 
king of Prussia had, before this, given security that he would 
nobly redeem his pledge; he had long paid great attention to 
the encouragement of education among the Jews; and in his 
rapidly improving dominions, the Jews are said to be by no 
means the last in the career of advancement. Nor has his 
benevolence been wasted on an ungrateful race: they are re¬ 
ported to be attached with patriotic zeal to their native land; 
many Jews are stated to have fallen in the Prussian ranks at 
Waterloo. 

The policy of the Russian government seems to have been 
to endeavour to overthrow the Rabbinical authority, and to re¬ 
lieve the crowded Polish provinces by transfer- They are re¬ 
ring the Jews to less densely peopled parts of strained in 
their dominions, where it was hoped they might Russia - 
be induced or compelled to become an agricultural race. A 
ukase of the Emperor Alexander, in 1803-4, prohibited the 
practice of small trades to the Jews of Poland, and proposed to 
transport numbers of them to agricultural settlements. He 
transferred likewise the management of the revenue of the 
communities from the Rabbins, who were accused of malver¬ 
sation, to the elders. A recent decree of the Emperor Nicho¬ 
las appears to be aimed partly at the Rabbins, who are to be 
immediately excluded by the police from any town they may 
enter, and at the petty traffickers, who are entirely prohibited 
in the Russian dominions; though the higher order of mer¬ 
chants, such as bill-brokers and contractors, are admitted, on 
Teceiving an express permission from government: artisans 
and handicraftsmen are encouraged, though they are subject 


48 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


to rigorous police regulations, and must be attached to some 
guild or fraternity. They cannot move without a passport. 

It only remains to give the best estimate we can afford of 
the number of the Jews now dispersed throughout the four 
quarters of the world. Such statements must of 

Numbers of necessity be extremely loose and imperfect. Even 
the Jews in Europe ^ would be difficult to approximate 
yrwJSf closely t0 the truth; how much more so in Afri¬ 
ca and Asia, where our data depend on no sta¬ 
tistic returns, and where the habits of the people are probably 
less stationary. 

It is calculated that there exist between four and five mil¬ 
lions* of this people, descended in a direct line from, and main¬ 
taining the same laws with, their forefathers, who, above 3,000 
years ago, retreated from Egypt under the guidance of their 
inspired lawgiver. 

In Africa, we know little more of their numbers than that 
they are found along the whole coast, from Morocco to Egypt; 
they travel with the caravans into the interior, nor is there 
probably a region undiscovered by Christian enterprise, which 
has not been visited by the Jewish trafficker. In Morocco 
they are said to be held in low estimation, and treated with 
great indignity by the Moors. 

In Egypt, 150 families alone inhabit that great city, Alex¬ 
andria, which has so often flowed with torrents of Jewish 
blood, and where, in the splendid days of the Macedonian city, 
their still recruited wealth excited the rapacious jealousy of 
the hostile populace or oppressive go /eminent. 

In Cairo, the number of Jews is stated at 2,000, including, 
it should seem, sixty Karaite families. The Falishas, or 
Jewish tribe named by Bruce, inhabit the borders of Abyssinia; 
and it is probable that in that singular kingdom, many Jews 
either dwell or make their periodical visits, f 

In Asia, the Jews still most likely might be found in con¬ 
siderable numbers on the verge of the continent; in China, 
where we are not aware that their communities have ceased 
to exist; and on the coast of Malabar, in Cochin, where two 
distinct races, called black and white Jews, were visited by Dr. 


* A statement has just been published in this country, from the Weimar 
Geographical Ephemeries, which gives the whole number of Jews at lit¬ 
tle more than three millions. We should conceive the Asiatic, and per¬ 
haps the Russian, stated too low ; but we subjoin their numbers. 

t In the Weimar statement, the Jews of Africa stand as follows- Mo¬ 
rocco and Fez, 300,000; Tunis, 130,000; Algiers, 30,000; Gabes or 
Habesh, 20,000; Tripoli, 12,000; Egypt, 12,000. Total, 504,000. 





Taled. p. 55. A Jew dressed for worship, p.55.. 


i 





Phylacterites worn during prayer, p. 55. 














































































HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


49 


Buchanan. The traditions of the latter averred that they had 
found their way to that region after the fall of Jerusalem, but 
the date they assigned for their migration singularly coincided 
with that of a persecution in Persia, about A. C. 508, from 
whence, most likely, they found their way to India. The 
origin of the black Jews is more obscure; it is not impossible 
that they may have been converts of the more civilized whites, 
or, more probably, are descendants of black slaves. The Ma¬ 
labar Jews were about 1,000 ; they possessed a copy of the Old 
Testament. Many are found in other parts of the East 
Indies. 

In Bokhara reside 2,000 families of Jews; in Balkh, 150. 

In Persia, they have deeply partaken of the desolation which 
has fallen on the fair provinces of that land; their numbers 
were variously stated to Mr. Woo Iff at 2,974 and 3,590 fami¬ 
lies. Their chief communities are at Shiraz and Ispahan, 
Kashaan and Yazd. They are subject to the heaviest exac¬ 
tions, and to the capricious despotism of the governors. “ I 
have travelled far,” said a Jew to Mr. Woolff; “ the Jews are 
everywhere princes, in comparison with those in the land of 
Persia. Heavy is our captivity, heavy is our burthen, heavy 
is our slavery ; anxiously we wait for redemption.” 

In Mesopotamia and Assyria, the ancient seats of the Baby¬ 
lonian Jews are still occupied by 5,270 families, exclusive of 
those in Bagdad and Bassora. The latter are described as a 
fine race, both in form and intellect; in the provinces they 
are broken in mind and body by the heavy exactions of the 
pashas, and by long ages of sluggish ignorance. At Bagdad 
the ancient title of Prince of the Captivity, so long, according 
to the accounts of the Jews, entirely suppressed, was borne by 
an ancient Jew named Isaac. He paid dear for his honour ' 
he was suddenly summoned to Constantinople and impri¬ 
soned. 

At Damascus there are seven synagogues and four colleges. 

In Arabia, whether not entirely expelled by Mahomet, or 
having returned to their ancient dwellings in later periods, the 
Beni-Khaibr still retain their Jewish descent and faith. In 
Yemen reside 2,658 families, 18,000 souls. 

In Palestine, of late years, their numbers have greatly in¬ 
creased ; it is said, but we are inclined to doubt the numbers, 
that 10,000 inhabit Safet and Jerusalem. They are partly 
Karaites : some very pathetic hymns of this interesting Israel- 
itish race have been published in the Journals of Mr. Woolfi, 
which must have a singularly affecting sound when heard 
5 


50 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


from children of Israel, bewailing, upon the very ruins of Je¬ 
rusalem, the fallen city, and the suffering people.* 

In the Turkish dominions, not including the Barbary 
States, the Israelites are calculated at 800,000. In Asia Minor 
they are numerous, in general unenlightened, rapacious, war- 
red on, and at war with mankind. 

In Constantinople, they are described as the most fierce and 
fanatical race which inhabit the city. Hated by and hating the 
Greeks with the unmitigated animosity of ages, they lend 
themselves to every atrocity for which the government may 
demand unrelenting executioners. They were employed in 
the barbarous murder and maltreatment of the body of the 
Patriarch; on the other hand, the old rumors of their crucify¬ 
ing Christian children are still revived: the body of a youth 
was found pierced with many wounds ; the murder was, with 
one voice, charged upon the Jews. Their numbers are stated 
at 40,000. 

At Adrianople reside 800 families, with thirteen syna¬ 
gogues. 

In Salonichi, 30,000 possess thirty synagogues; and in this 
city, the ancient Thessalonica, the most learned of the Eastern 
Rabbins are reported to teach in their schools, with great dili¬ 
gence, the old Talmudic learning. 

In the Crimea, the Karaites still possess their wild and pic¬ 
turesque mountain fortress, so beautifully described by Dr. 
Clarke, with its cemetery reposing under its ancient and peace¬ 
ful grove, and the simple manners of its industrious and 
blameless people, who are proverbial elsewhere, as in this set¬ 
tlement, for their honesty. Their numbers amount to about 
1 , 200 . 

In the Russian Asiatic dominions, about Caucasus and in 
Georgia, their numbers are considerable. In Georgia some 
of them are serfs attached to the soil; some, among the wild 
tribes about Caucasus, are bold and marauding horsemen like 
their Tartar compatriots. 

But the ancient kingdom of Poland, with the adjacent pro¬ 
vinces of Moravia, Moldavia, and Wallachia, is still the great 
seat of the modern Jewish population. Three millions have 
been stated to exist in these regions; but probably this is a 
great exaggeration. In Poland, they form the intermediate 
class between the haughty nobles and the miserable agricul- 

♦Asia:—Asiatic Turkey, 330,000; Arabias, 200,000; Hindostan, 
100,000 ; China, 60,000; Turkistan, 40,000; Province of Iran, 35,000; 
Russia in Asia, 3,000, Total 738,000.— Weimar Statement. 




HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


51 


tural villains of that kingdom.* The rapid increase of their 
population, beyond all possible maintenance by trade, embar¬ 
rasses the government. They cannot ascend or descend; 
they may not become possessors, they are averse to becoming 
cultivators of the soil; they swarm in all the towns. In some 
districts, as in Volhynia, they are described by Bishop James 
as a fine race, with the lively, expressive eye of the Jew, and 
forms, though not robust, active and well-proportioned. Of 
late years, much attention, under the sanction of the govern¬ 
ment, has been paid to their education, and a great institution 
established for this purpose at Warsaw. 

The number of Jews in the Austrian dominions is estima¬ 
ted, including Gallicia, at 650,000. In the Prussian domi¬ 
nions at 135,000. In the rest of Germany, 138,000. The 
emperor of Austria has afforded to Europe the novel sight of 
a Jew created a baron, and invested with a patent of nobility. 

In Denmark and Sweden the Jews are in considerable 
numbers; those resident in Copenhagen were stated in 1819 
at 1,491. They enjoy freedom of trade and the protection of 
the government. 

The Netherlands contain 80,000. 

In France, now deprived of the German and Italian pro¬ 
vinces of the empire, the Israelites are reckoned at about 40 
or 50,000. 

In Spain, the iron edict of Ferdinand and Isabella still ex¬ 
cludes the Israelite. At the extremity of the land, in Gibraltar, 
3 or 4,000 are found under the equitable protection of Great 
Britain. 

In Portugal they have been tolerated since the time of the 
late king, John VI., who remunerated their services in 
introducing large cargoes of com during a famine, by the 
recognition of their right to inhabit Lisbon.f 

In Italy their numbers are considerable. It is said that 
many have taken refuge in Tuscany from the sterner govern¬ 
ment of Sardinia; where, under the French dominion, among 
a Jewish population of 5,543, there were 182 landed proprie- 

* A Jewish free corps served under Kosciusko during the insurrection 

in Poland. . . ^ „ 

t Europe In Russia and Poland, 608,800; Austria, 453,524; Euro¬ 
pean Turkey, 321,000; States of the German Confederation, 138,000; 
Prussia, 134,000; Netherlands, 80,000; France, 60,000; Italy, 36,000; 
Great Britain, 12,000; Cracow, 7,300; Ionian Isles, 7,000; Denmark, 
6,000; Switzerland, 1,970; Sweden, 450. Total number of Jews in 
Europe, 1,918,053; or a proportion of a 113th part of the population, 
calculated at 227 millions.— Weimar Statement. 


52 


HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 


tors, 402 children attended the public, schools: 7,000 is given 
as their number in the Austrian territories in Italy. 

In Great Britain, the number of Jews is variously stated 
from 12 to 25,000. They are entitled to every privilege of 
British subjects, except certain corporate offices and seats in 
parliament, from which they are excluded by the recent act, 
which requires an oath to be taken on the faith of a Christian. 
In the city of London they are prevented by municipal regula¬ 
tions from taking out their freedom; a restriction which sub¬ 
jects them to great occasional embarrassment and vexation, 
as no one can legally follow a retail trade without having pre¬ 
viously gone through this ceremony. 

In America the Jews are calculated at about 6,000; the 
few in the former dominions of Spain and Portugal, are de¬ 
scendants of those who, under the assumed name of Chris¬ 
tians, fled from the inquisition; in Surinam a prosperous com¬ 
munity is settled under the protection of the Dutch; they were 
originally established at Cayenne: there are some in Jamaica. 
In the United States, their principal settlements are at New- 
York, Philadelphia, and Charleston.* 

Such, according to the best authorities to which we have 
access, is the number and distribution of the children of Israel; 
they are still found in every quarter of the world, under every 
climate, in every region, under every form of government, 
wearing the indelible national stamp on their features, united 
by the close moral affinity of habits and feelings, and, at least, 
the mass of the community, treasuring in their hearts the same 
reliance on their national privileges, the same trust in the pro¬ 
mises of their God, the same conscientious attachment to the 
institutions of their fathers. 

* America:—North America, 5,000; Netherlandish Colonies, 500: 
Demerara and Essequibo, 200. Total, 5,700. 

New-Holland, 50.— Weimar Statement. 










FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES. 


53 


CHAPTER II. 

* 

RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS AND CEREMONIES OF THE JEWS. 

The religious customs of the Jews of modern times are not 
all of equal authority; neither are they observed by all alike; 

for this reason they are divided into three classes. . 

. . 1 hree clas- 

Ihe first contains the injunctions of the written ses 0 f Cus- 

law , viz. those included in the Pentateuch, or five toms among 
first books of Moses. The second class relates modern 

to the oral law, or that which was delivered by ews ' 
word of mouth. It comprehends those comments which the 
rabbins and doctors made in their days upon the Pentateuch, 
and an infinite variety of ordinances. These were collected 
into one large volume, called the Talmud. The third class 
includes such things as custom has sanctioned in different 
times and places, or which have been lately introduced among 
them. These are properly termed customs. Of these three 
classes, the first and second are received by all Jews, where¬ 
soever dispersed ; hut in regard to the third, they differ greatly 
from each other, because sojourning in various parts of the 
world, many of them have adopted the names, and fallen into 
the manners of the nations among whom they dwell. In this 
respect, the greatest difference lies between the Eastern Ger¬ 
man, and Italian Jews. 

SECT. I.-FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES. 

We shall here transcribe the thirteen articles of the Jewish 
creed, which contain all that they believe, according to what 
rabbi Moses, or Maimonides , the Egyptian, has Articles of 
said of it, in his commentaries on the Misna in belief, 
the discourse Sanedrin , Chap. Helec ; . which 
the Jews have received without any opposition, and from which 
they are never permitted to swerve. 

I. I believe with a strong and lively faith, that there is one 
God, the Creator of all things, and first principle of all beings, 
who is self-sufficient and independent, and without whom no 
created being can subsist. 

II. I believe, &c. that God is one, and indivisible; but of 
an unity peculiar to himself alone;—that he has been, is, and 
shall forever be, the only God, blessed for evermore. 

III. I believe, &c. that God is an incorporeal being; he 


FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES. 


54 

has no bodily quality of any kind whatever, which either is 
possible, or can any ways be imagined. 

IV. I believe, &c. that God is eternal, and all beings, ex¬ 
cept himself, had once a beginning; for God is the beginning 
and end of all things. 

V. I believe, &c. that none but God is the object of divine 
adoration ; and no created being ought to be worshipped as a 
mediator or intercessor. 

VI. I believe, &c. that whatever is written in the books of 
the prophets is true; for there have been, and still may be, 
prophets qualified to receive the inspirations of the Supreme 
Being. 

VII. I believe, &c. in the truth of the prophecies of our 
master Moses, (peace be with him,) for Moses was a prophet 
superior to all others ; and God Almighty honoured him with 
a peculiar gift of prophecy which was never granted to any of 
the rest. 

VIII. I believe, &c. that the law left by Moses (peace be 
with him) was the pure dictate of God himself; and conse¬ 
quently, the explication of those commandments, which were 
handed down by tradition, came entirely from the mouth of 
God, who delivered it to our master Moses, as we have it at 
the present day. 

IX. I believe, &c. that this law is unchangeable, and that 
God will never give another ; nor can there be the least addi¬ 
tion to, or diminution from it. 

X. I believe, &c. that God perfectly knows the most secret 
thoughts, and governs ail the actions of mankind. 

XI. I believe, &c. that God will reward those who observe 
this law, and will severely punish such as are guilty of the 
least violation of it. Eternal life is the best and greatest re¬ 
ward, and damnation of the soul the most severe punishment. 

XII. I believe, &c. that a Messiah shall come, more deserv¬ 
ing than all the kings that have ever lived. Although he 
thinks proper to delay his coming, no one ought on that ac¬ 
count to question the truth of it, or set an appointed time for 
it, much less produce scripture for the proof of it; since Is¬ 
rael will never have any king to rule over it, but one that 
shall be of the line of David and Solomon. 

XIII. I believe, &c. that God will raise the dead, and 
though I know not when, yet it will be when he sees most con¬ 
venient.—Hallowed be his name for ever and ever. Amen. 

There are other articles besides these fundamental ones, 
which, though not universally received, are not absolutely re¬ 
jected. 


FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES. 


55 


The Jews go to prayers three times every day in their syna¬ 
gogues, and when they enter, they bow towards the Hechal, 
or Ark, repeating some verses from the Psalms, Prayers and 
in an humble tone. The first four hours after thanks giv- 
sun-rise, are appointed for the morning service, i n S s - 
which is called Sciacrid : the second service is in the after¬ 
noon, and called Mincha: the third, at the close of the even¬ 
ing, which they call Haruid. But in several places, on such 
days as are not festivals, the afternoon and evening prayers, 
for convenience sake, are said together, at sun-set. 

The prayers which they use at present may be called a 
supplement to their ancient sacrifices; and for this reason 
they have given the title or name of small temples to their 
synagogues. And as two sacrifices were offered every day in 
the temple of Jerusalem, one in the morning, and the other in 
the evening, so they have morning and evening service in 
their synagogues, to correspond with those two sacrifices. 

Besides these, there was another sacrifice offered up on holi¬ 
days, for the solemnity of the festival; and for this reason 
they add a new prayer on feast-days, called Musaph, that is, 
addition. 

They must not eat, drink, or do any kind of thing, or salute 
even a friend, till they have been at morning prayers:—they 
are obliged, however, to wash their hands before they enter 
the synagogue. 

At their first entrance into the synagogue, having put on a 
devout and humble demeanour, they cover themselves with 
a white embroidered linen cloth, of an oblong 
figure, called the Taled, and then pronounce 
the benediction contained in Numbers, chapter 

“ Blessed be thou,” &c. Some Jews only cover their heads 


Divine Ser¬ 
vice. 


x. 


with the Taled , but others bring it close about their necks, 
that no object may divert their thoughts, and that their atten¬ 
tion to the prayers may in no ways be interrupted. 

In the next place they put on the armlets and fore-head¬ 
pieces, called Tephilim, or Phylacteries ;—meaning that 
which is worn during the time of prayer. 

The Tephilim are made as follows:—they take two slips 
of parchment, and write on them with great accuracy, and 
with ink made for that particular purpose, these four passages, 
in square letters, from Exodus, chapter xiii. 1-3, 5-6, 8-10, 
11-13. 

These two slips of parchment are rolled up together, and 
wrapped in a piece of black calf’s skin :—after which the lat¬ 
ter is fixed upon a thick square piece of the same skin, leaving 


56 


FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES. 


a slip thereof fastened to it, of about a finger’s breadth, and 
nearly a cubit and a half long. One of these Tephilim is placed 
on the bending of the left arm; and after they have made a small 
knot in the slip, they wind it round the arm in a spiral line, till 
the end thereof reaches the end of the middle finger: as for 
the Head Tephila, they write the four passages before men¬ 
tioned, upon four distinct pieces of vellum, which, when 
stitched together, make a square: upon this they write the 
letter Scin, and over it they put a square piece of hard calf’s 
skin, as thick as the other, from which proceed two slips of 
the same length and breadth as the former. They put this 
square piece upon the middle of their forehead. The slips 
going round their heads, form a knot, behind, in the shape of 
the letter Daletii, and then hang down before, upon the 
breast. The forehead-pieces are usually put on in the morning 
only, with the Taled. Some, indeed, wear them at their noon 
prayers too ; but there are very few who wear even the Taled 
at those prayers, excepting the Reader. 

David Levi says, that “all Jews, every morning, during 
the reading of the Siiema, and whilst saying the nineteen 
prayers, must have on the Phylacteries ; because it is a sign 
of their acknowledging the Almighty to be the Creator of all 
things, and that he has power to do as he pleases. On the 
sabbath and other festivals, we do not put on the Phylacteries, 
because the due observation of these days is a sufficient sign 
of itself, as expressed in Exodus, chapter xxxi. verse 12.” 

God is said to enter the Synagogue as soon as the door is 
opened, and when ten are assembled together, and each of them 
thirteen years and a day old, at least, (for otherwise those 
prayers cannot be sung after a solemn manner,) then he is said 
to be in the midst of them, and the Chazan, or Reader, goes 
up to the table, or altar, or stands before the Ark, and begins 
to sing prayers aloud, in which the rest of the congregation 
join, but in a softer and less audible voice. 

The form and mode of prayer is not uniform amongst the 
Jewish nations. The Germans sing in a louder tone than the 
rest. The Eastern and Spanish Jews sing much after the 
same manner as the Turks; and the Italians soft and slow. 
Their prayers are longer or shorter, according as the days are, 
or are not, festival. In this particular, too, the several nations 
differ greatly. 

The Jews, in their prayers, rely on two things, viz. on the 
mercy and goodness of God, and on the innocence and piety 
of their forefathers. For which reason, they mention Abra* 
ham, Isaac, Jacob, and some others, both patriarchs and pro- 


FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES. 


57 


phets. “ Do thou, O God,” say they, “ vouchsafe to hear us, 
and grant us such and such a favour, through the merits of 
all those just and holy men who have sprung up in every ge¬ 
neration among the Israelites.” 

In regard to their posture during divine service, they are 
to stand without leaning as much as possibly they can: their 
heads are to be covered, and their bodies girt with a belt, to 
separate the heart from the lower parts, which are impure. 
Their hands and faces are to be carefully washed, before they 
presume to enter into the synagogue. They must not touch 
any thing whilst they are at their prayers which is foul and 
nasty, and their minds must be prepared, at least an hour, for 
their prayers, before they repeat them. 

The person who prays must turn towards Jerusalem, join 
his feet straight, lay his hands on his heart, and fix his eyes on 
the ground. Fie must avoid gaping, spitting, blowing his 
nose, with the utmost precaution. 

They may pray aloud, when at home, for the edification 
and improvement of their servants and family; but at the 
synagogue it is sufficient to say their prayers as softly as 
they please, if they do but move their lips; for it is re¬ 
quisite that the congregation should he well satisfied that they 
do pray. 

When they depart from the synagogue, they must never 
turn their backs upon the Hechal, which contains the sacred 
hooks of the law. They must go out slowly, in conformity 
to those words in Job, the 14th chapter, and 16th verse, “ Thou 
hast counted my steps.” They must refrain likewise from 
casting their eyes upon any beautiful objects that may raise 
their inordinate affections. Whenever they pass the gate of 
the synagogue, they are obliged to put up an ejaculatory 
prayer. 

Even when upon a journey, let a Jew he ever so far from 
the place where he set out, he must say a prayer with his 
face turned that way, and repeat some passages out of the 
scriptures which relate to travellers. 

The rabbis have divided the five books of Moses into forty 
eight or fifty-two lessons, called Parasciod, or divisions ; and 
one of them is read every week in their synagogues: The Penta- 
sothat in the compass of a year, whether it consists teuch. 
of twelve or thirteen months, they read the whole book through. 
On Mondays and Thursdays, after having said their penitential 
prayers, they take the Sefar Tora, or book of the law , out 
of the Ark before mentioned, and whilst that verse of the 34th 
Psalm, “ 0 praise the Lord with me,” &c. and some others, 


58 


FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES. 


are repeating, they place it on the desk ; where being opened 
and unrolled, they desire three persons to read the beginning 
of the Parascia, which means section or chapter, in the same 
place with them. And the w T hole congregation repeat some 
words of it, which are preceded and followed with a blessing. 
After this, the Reader gives them his benediction, and they all 
promise either to bestow something on the poor, or to contri¬ 
bute towards the necessities of the synagogue. Then the 
Sefar Tora is held up wide open, and the Reader, showing 
the writing thereof, says to the congregation, according to 
Deuteronomy, chapter iv. verse 44, “ This is the law which 
Moses set before,” &c. The Levantine .Tews perform this 
ceremony first of all. After this declaration, the book is rolled 
up and covered, and then shut up in the ark. Besides this, 
no day must pass without reading some portion of the law at 
home. 

This manner of reading the five books of Moses m the 
synagogue, and inviting a greater or smaller number of the 
congregation to read it with them, was ordered by Esdras, 
and is observed on all fasts and festivals. 

As some men, out of a zeal for religion, are fond of being 
employed in certain ceremonies, such as taking the book out 
of the ark, and laying it up again, &c. &c. that indulgence is 
generally granted to such as are most generous and free of 
their money. Whatever is so collected, is distributed either 
amongst the poor, or employed towards furnishing the neces¬ 
saries of the synagogue. 

An epitome of the tenets, ordinances, and traditions of all 
the rabbis up to the time of Rabbi Juda, about 120 years af¬ 
ter the destruction of Jerusalem, called the 
The Ghcma- was divided into six parts; the first 

treats of agriculture; the second of festivals; 
the third of marriages, and every thing relating to women ; 
the fourth of law-suits, and of the disputes which arise from 
loss or interest, and of all manner of civil affairs; the fifth, of 
sacrifices; and the sixth, of things clean and unclean. This 
being very concise occasioned various disputes; a circum¬ 
stance which prompted two rabbis of Babylon, to the compi¬ 
lation of all the interpretations, controversies, and additions 
which had been written upon the Mishna, together with other 
supplementary matter. Thus they placed the Mishna as the 
text, and the rest as an exposition; the whole forming the 
book called the Talmud Babeli, the Talmud of Babylon, or 
Ghemara, which signifies the book of perfection. 


CUSTOMS AMD LAWS. 


59 


SEC. II.-CUSTOMS AND LAWS OF THE ANCIENT JEWS. 

$ 

Soon after the Jews, or the children of Israel, 
were delivered from Egyptian slavery, Moses, 
their leader, delivered them a body of laws, cient Jews, 
which he declared to them he received from 
God, whom he had conversed with, face to face, on Mount 
Sinai. These laws consisted of precepts which related both 
to the worship of God, and their duty to each other: but 
such was their attachment to their former customs and reli¬ 
gion, that while Moses was absent, in procuring the divine 
law, the people made a golden calf, which they danced round, 
and worshipped as the true God. This was done in imita¬ 
tion of what they had seen in Egypt. 

The most distinguishing of all the Jewish ceremonies, be 
fore their reception of the Mosaic law, was that of circumci¬ 
sion. This, from the time of Abraham, was al- Circumci- 
ways performed on the eighth day after the sion 
birth of the child, in order to distinguish them from the sur¬ 
rounding tribes, who made it a fixed rule to circumcise their 
children in the thirteenth year. 

By the Mosaic law, the seventh day of the week was to be 
kept sacred; but this was no more than the revival of an 
ancient institution, as appears from Genesis, c. 2. gabbath. 
Sacrifices were enjoined, and a distinction was 
made between clean and unclean animals. This distinction 
seems to have been rather political than religious; for had 
swine’s flesh been eaten in the wilderness, or even in the land 
of Canaan, it might have been prejudicial to their health. 
Another reason has been assigned for this prohibition; 
namely, to make a distinction between them and all other na¬ 
tions in the universe. 

At the celebration of their grand solemnities and sacrifices, 
persons were to bring the victim to the priest, who laid his 
hand upon its head, and then read over to the Sacrifices, 
congregation aloud, all the sins which the par¬ 
ties confessed. The victim was then slain, and when all the 
blood was extracted from the body, the fat was burned to 
ashes, and the other parts remained the property of the 
priests. During the time the children of Israel remained in 
the wilderness, they had no temple, because they had no fixed 
place of residence ; but, to supply that deficiency, Moses and 
Aaron made an Ark or Tabernacle, which was carried by 
the Levites from place to place. 


60 


CUSTOMS AND LAWS 


Of all the ceremonies imposed on the Jews, none serves 
more to point out the notion of an atonement for sin, than that 
of the “ Scape-Goat.” This ceremony was performed once 
in every year, and in the following manner:— 

The goat was taken to the Tabernacle, and, in the hearing 
of all the people, the priest read a list of the sins which had 
been confessed. The people acknowledged their guilt. Then 
taking the scroll, the priest fixed it upon the goat, which was 
immediately conducted to the wilderness, and never more 
heard of. This being over, the messengers returned, and 
then the people received absolution. The law 7 delivered by 
Moses to the Jew r s, contained not only directions for the man¬ 
ner in which sacrifices were to be offered, and indeed the 
w r hole service, first of the tabernacle, and then of the temple; 
but likewise a system of moral precepts. The distinctions of 
persons, according to the different ranks in life, were pointed 
out. Women were not permitted to w r ear the sanjp habit as 
the men. Young persons wrnre commanded to stand up in a 
reverent manner before the aged, and to treat them with every 
mark of respect. The same justice was to be done to stran¬ 
gers as to free-born subjects. No stranger was to be chosen 
king over them; for, as they were surrounded by heathen 
nations, a stranger, having the civil power in his hands, might 
have led them into idolatry. They were commanded not to 
abhor, nor treat w T ith contempt, the Edomites; because they 
were the descendants of Esau, the elder brother of Jacob: 
nor were they to treat the Egyptians with cruelty. 

Slavery was permitted by the law of Moses, but slaves or 
bond-men were not to be treated with cruelty ; and the reason 
assigned was, that the children of Israel had themselves been 
slaves in the land of Egypt. Every widow and orphan were 
to be considered as objects of compassion; and those who 
treated them with cruelty were to be considered as objects of 
the Divine displeasure. Nay, it was further threatened in 
this law, that those who oppressed the widow and the father¬ 
less, should die an ignominious death; that their widows 
should be exposed to want, and their children subjected to 
hardships. 

The duty of charity was strongly inculcated by the Mosaic 
economy; for whatever was left of the fruits of the earth in 
the field, they were not to go back to gather; it was for the 
pool and needy; the slaves were to enjoy it, and so were the 
widows and fatherless. The tribe of Levi, to whom the priest¬ 
hood was confined by law, were not to have any local inhe¬ 
ritance, but they were to dwell in the presence of their brc- 


) 












Sefar Tora, or Book of the Law. p. 58. 



Jewish Ceremony of walking 7 times round the dead. p. 79. 





















































































































































! i 


















OF THE ANCIENT JEWS. 


61 


thren, and one-tenth part of the fruits of the earth was to be 
set aside for their subsistence. These Levites, however, were 
commanded to relieve the widow and the fatherless. 

In every city, town, or village, some of the most respect¬ 
able of the inhabitants, or elders of the people, were to be ap¬ 
pointed judges ; and in the administration of justice, they were 
strictly commanded to act impartially. No respect was to be 
paid to the characters or rank of persons ; and T 
a dreadful curse was pronounced against such 
as should take bribes. These judges sat in the gates of the 
cities; which practice still prevails in many of the eastern 
nations. The origin of this custom is of great antiquity; but 
the end and design of it has never been properly accounted 
for, which is the more surprising, because the custom itself is 
very emblematical and expressive. 

There was, however, an appeal from these inferior courts, 
whether relating to matters of a civil or a criminal nature. 
And this appeal was very solemn: the party who thought 
himself injured, entered his appeal before the supreme judge 
or the king, who called to his assistance the whole body of 
priests and Levites ; and the majority of votes determined the 
affair. If either of the contending parties refused to abide by 
the final decision, he was condemned to suffer death; for not 
to acknowledge such a solemn judgment, was to deny the au¬ 
thority of God himself, who had delegated his authority to 
the judges, priests, and Levites. 

The person who spoke disrespectfully of a judge, was con¬ 
sidered as a blasphemer; and if he was found guilty by the 
evidence of two or three witnesses, then he was to be put to 
death; for to revile a judge was to revile God, he being consi¬ 
dered as his representative on earth. 

The Jewish slavery was two-fold, and arose from a variety 
of circumstances. When men were reduced to poverty, it was 
in the power of their creditors to sell them: but _ 

they were not to be treated as strangers ; they 
were to be treated in the same manner as we do hired ser¬ 
vants ; and when the year of jubilee took place, they, and 
their wives, w r ith their children, rvere to be set at liberty, and 
they were to return to the possessions of their ancestors. 
These persons who were purchased, or in other words, taken 
into a state of servitude, were not to be sold by their masters, 
nor were they to be treated with any sort of severity. When 
a servant was discharged, his master was to give him as much 
corn, wine, oil, and other necessaries, as he and his wife and 
children could carry home to their houses. 

6 


62 


CUSTOMS AND LAWS 


In the patriarchal age, the power of masters over their ser¬ 
vants was unlimited, for they had a right to put them to death 
whenever they pleased; but after the children of Israel had 
returned from Egypt, this power was confined within proper 
bounds. Such as engaged for a limited time were to have 
leave to go out at the expiration of it; and if a man was 
married when he entered into servitude, his wife and children 
were to be set at liberty; but if his master gave him a wife, 
both she and the children were to remain the property of the 
master. This circumstance, however, seldom took place, for 
the law had provided a remedy. 

It frequently happened, that when the term of servitude ex¬ 
pired, the servant having no prospect of procuring a subsist- 
. ence, and, at the same time, unwilling to part with his wife 
and children, told his master that he would serve him during 
the remainder of his life. In such cases, the master took 
him before the elders, or judges, and in their presence, an 
awl was bored through his ear, and fixed to a post in the gate 
of the city; signifying that he and his wife and children 
were to serve the master till death. 

It was the same with women servants, who were bound by 
the same obligations. With respect to strangers, they were, 
at all times, permitted to redeem themselves, and this was to 
be done in an equitable manner before the judges. All the 
arrears due to them were to be paid, and if the time of their 
servitude was not expired, then they were to make a proper 
deduction, so that the master should not receive the least 
injury. 

When a master struck his servant, and the wound proved 
mortal, so that the servant died within a day or two, then the 
crime was to be considered as capital, and the master was to 
suffer death for it; but if he lived beyond that time, then the 
master was to be discharged, because the slave was his pro¬ 
perty. When a master struck out the eye or the tooth of his 
servant, then he was obliged to let him go free; because, in 
such an instance, the master exceeded the bounds prescribed 
by the law. 

It was in the power of parents to sell their daughters; a 
practice which has been followed in the eastern nations from 
the most early ages. When a master seduced 

father 6r ° * a female slave ’ lle was not permitted to sell her, 
because he had not acted towards her consist¬ 
ently with the nature of moral obligation. If the master 
betrothed the young woman to his son, she was to be treated 
as a free-born subject; but if the young man took another 


OF THE ANCIENT JEWS. 


63 


wife, then he w r as to deliver up every thing belonging to the 
slave, and she was to be free to act in what manner she 
pleased. It is singular, that when a slave ran away from his 
master, he was not to be reclaimed by him, but was to remain 
with the person where he chose to settle. 

The power that fathers had over their children was great, 
[f a son refused to obey his father or mother, or treated them 
with indignity, they were to chastise him; and if no reforma¬ 
tion took place in his conduct, then he was to be taken before 
the elders, or judges of the city, who, upon hearing such evi¬ 
dence as served to prove his guilt, he was delivered over to 
the common executioners, who immediately stoned him to 
death. None of the children of Israel were permitted to sell 
their daughters as common prostitutes, because purity was 
enjoined by the Mosaic law. It was the custom of the sur¬ 
rounding nations to boil kids in the milk of their dam ; but 
by the Mosaic law this was forbidden as an unnatural prac¬ 
tice ; so that it was utterly prohibited for any person to seethe a 
kid in its mother’s milk. 

Many of the Heathen nations lived in an incestuous man¬ 
ner ; but this practice was not tolerated under the law of 
Moses. The degrees of consanguinity were so 
strictly attended to, that no person was to break .Laws respec- 
through them; and a table of those degrees has m g mama t> e * 
always been affixed to the English translation of the Bible. 
A man was not to marry two sisters, lest it should create 
family dissensions. 

If a man died without having children, and if he had a 
brother alive unmarried, then the bachelor was to espouse the 
widow; that by descendants the name of the family might be 
kept up; but the first-born child was to succeed to the name 
and estate of the first husband. 

As nothing was more odious among the Jews, than for men 
or women to live unmarried, so if the brother-in-law refused 
to marry the sister-in-law, to preserve the name of his family, 
the widow was to go before the judges in the gate of the city, 
and there exhibit her complaint. This being done, the bro¬ 
ther-in-law was called before the judges, and examined con¬ 
cerning the nature of his objections; and when it was found 
that he absolutely refused to marry the woman, then she was 
called in, and the refusal intimated to her; the judges then 
were to tell her to act according as the law of Moses directed; 
and she, stooping down, unloosened the shoe from off his right 
foot, and, spitting in his face, declared her abhorrence of the 
man who refused to perpetuate the name of his family, and tho 



64 


CUSTOMS AND LAWS 


name of his brother; and from that time forward he was 
called, “ The man whose shoe was loosed in Israel" 

A woman was not to marry into any tribe but that to which 
her father belonged: this seems to have been done to keep up 
the grand distinctions among the twelve tribes, especially that 
of Judah; from whom the Messiah was to be descended. 

Moses permitted a man to put away his wife, and both par¬ 
ties were allowed to marry again. But if a husband divorced 
his wife, and she married a second husband, who afterwards 
died, then the first husband was not to take the woman again. 
This was done to discourage divorces. 

Every man was exempted from going to war, and from all 
public business, during the first year of his marriage ; and the 
reason was, that there might not be too many young widows 
or fatherless children among them. The law of Moses allowed 
a man to make a vow, and to give for the service of the taber¬ 
nacle any part of his goods or money, but so as not to injure 
his family. 

It is evident, from several passages in the Old Testament, 
that women were permitted to make vows, on condition of 
obtaining the consent of their fathers and husbands. If the 
fathers or husbands were present when the vow was made, 
and did not object to it, then the woman was bound to the per¬ 
formance. On the other hand, if either the father or husband 
objected to the vow, then it could not stand good, and the 
priests were commanded to see that it was not performed. 
But all widows, and such women as had been divorced, and 
lived single, were obliged to perform their vows, otherwise 
they were to be treated as persons guilty of sacrilege. 

In military affairs, the law of Moses was well calculated 
to promote the interests of the commonwealth, and altogether 
_ suitable to the genius, times, and circumstances 

Law lta1 ^ ^ ie P eo pl e - Every family was obliged to re¬ 
turn to the chiefs of the tribes a list of all the 
males upwards of twenty years of age, fit to carry arms. 
When the return was made, the males of each tribe were 
called together, and the following questions were asked them, 
one by one: “ Has any man built a house, and has not had 
time to dedicate it ? Has any man planted a vineyard, and not 
yet eaten of the fruit of it? Has any man betrothed a wife, and 
not yet married her ? Is any man fearful or faint-hearted to 
go against the enemy ? Then let all those return home, and 
attend to their domestic duties.” 

According to the Jewish law, when they attacked a city 
they were to offer-terms of peace to the inhabitants, upon con- 


OF THE ANCIENT JEWS. 


65 


dition of surrendering themselves up prisoners of war, and 
submitting to the will of the conqueror; which was, that they 
should pay a certain tribute. But if the citizens refused to 
accept of the proffered terms, then the place was to be attacked, 
and if taken, all the males were to be put to the sword. The 
women and children were to be sold as slaves; the cattle, and 
all the goods were to be taken and distributed equally among 
the soldiers, after which the city was to be reduced to ashes. 

They were permitted to eat the fruits of the trees which 
they found in the land of an enemy; and the trees were to be 
cut down in order to raise bulwarks against the next city 
which they should have occasion to besiege. 

All the lands taken by conquest were to be divided by lot 
among the soldiers, but each was to have his share, according 
to the rank he bore in the army. The Levites also had their 
share, although, being obliged to attend the service of the 
tabernacle, they were exempted from every duty of a civil or 
military nature. This exemption was appointed to exist 
throughout all generations: although we meet with many 
deviations from it in the latter times of their history, particu¬ 
larly after they returned from the Babylonish captivity. 

If a man died without leaving a son, then the inheritance 
was to pass to his daughter; and if there was no daughter, then 
it was to go to the brothers ; and if there were no brethren, then 
it was to ascend upwards to the brothers of the grandfather, and 
to all the collateral branches, according to their consanguinity. 

As polygamy was permitted among the Jews, great care 
was taken that no abuses should happen, in consequence of 
partiality in favour of the children of the second or third wife, 
in preference to those of the first. It was ordered, p 0 l amv 
that although the first wife should be despised, 
or even hated by her husband, yet her first-born son should 
succeed to the inheritance; and the judges were under the 
most solemn obligations to see this part of the law properly 
executed. Provision, however, was made for the rest of the 
children, and amongst them the personal estate was divided * 
without any partial respect; but if there was no personal 
estate, then two thirds of the real estate were given to the 
first-born, and the third divided .equally among the rest. 

The Jews were permitted to lend money upon Laws rela- 
usury, to strangers, but not to any of their own ting to proper- 
brethren, nor were they to sleep one night with ^ 
their brother’s pledge. 

If an estate was mortgaged, the person who held it was 
obliged to restore it at the end of seven years, upon condition 
6 * 




GG 


CUSTOMS AND LAWS 


of receiving the money he had advanced, but he was not 
under the same obligation to strangers. And if a man bor¬ 
rowed a beast of his neighbour, and an accident happened to 
it, so that it received an injury, then he was to make good the 
loss, unless the owner happened to be present. 

If a man delivered any thing to another to keep, and it was 
stolen, the thief, if found, was to pay double; but if the thief 
was not found, then the person to whom it was intrusted, was 
to be brought before the judges, to declare upon oath, whether 
he had injured his neighbour by making away with his goods, 
or having been privy to any transaction of that nature. The 
oath of the suspected person was to be supported by such evi¬ 
dence as he could produce; and that was to be opposed by 
what the prosecutor could advance. 

The matter having been heard with calmness, the judges 
were to consider on it in a deliberate manner; and if it ap¬ 
peared that the accused person was innocent, then he was 
acquitted; but, if through his own neglect the goods were 
stolen, then he was to return double to the owner. If there 
was no evidence produced by the person accused, nor any to 
support the accusation, then the judges were to decide, accord¬ 
ing to their own wisdom and discretion. 

Among the Jews, there were several things exempted from 
being pledged; amongst which were millstones; for such 
things* were necessary towards preserving the lives of men, 
because wheat would have been of little use unless ground 
into flour. When a pledge was deposited, the person who 
advanced the money was not to go into the debtor’s house to 
demand it, but he was to stand without the door until it was 
brought to him. This was ordered to prevent family dis¬ 
putes, and to keep peace among a body of people who were 
commanded to live together as brethren. The clothes of 
widows were not to be taken in pledge, and the same degree 
of humanity was to extend to strangers, to the fatherless, and 
to the slaves. Great regard was paid to the standard weights 
and measures; so that, in their common dealings, justice 
should be equally distributed. 

Every sale, or bargain, relating to the conveyance of estates, 
was of a conditional nature; and if any of the descendants or 
relations of those who assigned it away, produced the money 
advanced for it, at the end of forty-nine years, then it was to be 
restored; for the possession of it during that time, was consi¬ 
dered as an ample recompense to the purchaser. 

On such occasions; trumpets were to be sounded in all the 
towns and villages, that the people might have proper notice 


OF THE ANCIENT JEWS. 


67 


that the jubilee was approaching. Then, during the fiftieth 
year, all servants or slaves were to be set at liberty ; and an 
opportunity was offered for persons to redeem such estates as 
had been sold. In the redemption of estates, an account was ta¬ 
ken before the judges, concerning the nature of the improved 
rent, during the time they had been in the possession of the pur¬ 
chaser, and the overplus was delivered up, either to the per¬ 
son who sold them, or to his relations who made the claim. 

All houses in walled cities, namely, such as were fortified, 
could be redeemed within the compass of one year, but they 
could never be redeemed afterwards, not even in the year of 
jubilee; because the person in possession was under obligation 
to lay down his life in support of its rights and privileges. It 
was different with respect to the villages which were not walled 
round, because they were considered as part of the country at 
large, so that they were permitted to be redeemed in the year 
of jubilee. However, the houses of the Levites were not to be 
sold without redemption, whether they were in cities or villages. 

When servants were hired by the day, they were to receive 
their wages before sun-set; and the reason assigned for it was, 
that because the poor man wanted his hire, hunger, and the 
regard he had for his wife and children, would make him un¬ 
willing to return home. 

By the Mosaic law, the ox, who contributed towards culti¬ 
vating the fruits of the earth, and who assisted in treading out 
the corn, was not muzzled, but suffered to eat as much as he 
could, while he was employed. 

Covetousness was forbidden by the Mosaic law. Cattle 
being stolen and disposed of, so as to be irrecoverable, the 
thief, on conviction, was to make a five-fold restitution; but if 
the cattle were found alive with him, then he was to restore 
them and pay double. Every person was empowered to kill 
a housebreaker, if he was found in the fact during the night; 
but if in the day, then he was either to make restitution, or to 
be sold for a slave. 

In walking through a vineyard, every stranger was per¬ 
mitted to pull what fruit he chose to eat, but he was not to 
carry any away. It was the same with respect to fields of 
corn, where every man was permitted to pull as much as he 
could eat, but he was not to put in a sickle, or cut down as 
much as one of the stalks. 

It was ordained in their law, that nuisances, by which men’s 
lives or properties could be injured, should be removed; or if 
an accident happened in consequence of neglect, a proper re¬ 
compense was to be made to the loser. Thus, if a man left a 


68 


CUSTOMS AND LAWS 


pit uncovered, and his neighbour’s beast fell into it, and was 
killed, or in any way disabled, then the person guilty of the 
neglect was to make up the loss. In the same manner, if any. 
man killed the beast of his neighbour, he was either to restore 
another equal in value, or pay the price. 

All those who found cattle wandering astray, were to take 
them to their own folds, and keep them till they were claimed 
by the owners. It was the same with respect to every thing 
lost, for whoever found it, and did not embrace the first oppor¬ 
tunity of restoring it, was considered as a thief, and punished 
as such. 

If fire happened through negligence, the person w r ho neg¬ 
lected to take proper care, was to make restitution to the in¬ 
jured person; and the same was to be done where a man 
suffered his beast to eat the corn in the field of his neighbour. 


If a man or woman happened to be killed by an ox, then the 
ox was to be stoned to death, and his flesh was not to be eaten ; 
but if sufficient evidence appeared to the judges, that the ox 
was a vicious animal, accustomed to push at every person 
who came in his way, and the owner did not take proper mea¬ 
sures to restrain him, then the ox was to be stoned, and the 
owner was to be put to death. It was, however, permitted for 
the owner of the ox to redeem his own life, by paying a cer¬ 
tain sum of money to the widow or children of the deceased. 

When an ox killed a slave, his owner was to pay to the 
master of the slave thirty shekels of silver ; and if it happened 
that one ox hurt or killed another, the live ox was to be sold 
along with the dead one, and the money equally divided be¬ 
tween the proprietors. 

Murder Wilful murder was to be punished with death : 

for thus it was written in the Mosaic law:— 
“And if he smite him with an instrument of iron (so that he 
die) he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to 
death. And if he smite him with throwing a stone, (where¬ 
with he may die,) and he die, he is a murderer.” In the same 
manner, if he smote him with an instrument of wood, so that 
he died, he was a murderer; but still no crime could be called 
murder, unless there was malice in the offending party. In 
all such cases, the nearest of kin had a right to put the mur¬ 
derer to death with his own hands. 

The difference between murder and manslaughter was 
pointed out, and a straight line of distinction drawn. Thus, 
if there had been no malice between the contending parties, 
and it happened that one of them killed the other suddenly, 
then the aggressor was to flee to the city of refuge , where he 


: 




OF THE ANCIENT JEWS. 


69 


was kept in a state of safety, until the judges had inquired into 
the affair. This was done in a very solemn manner, and 
what is remarkable, the evidence was delivered in the hearing 
of all those who lived in the district where the affair happened. 

When a solemn inquiry was made, and it was found that 
the aggressor entertained malice against the deceased, then ho 
was delivered up to the avenger of blood to be put to death. 
But if it was found that no malice had existed between tho 
parties, then the judges were to see the offender safely con¬ 
ducted to the city of refuge, where he was to remain as an in¬ 
habitant, till the death of the high-priest. During that tirqe, 
if he ventured to go out of the city of refuge, the avenger of 
blood had a right to put him to death; but when the high- 
priest died, he was restored to the peaceable enjoyment of his 
temporal possessions. 

When it ' happened that a pregnant woman was injured, so 
as to occasion her miscarrying, then the husband was to de¬ 
mand a fine from the offending party, and the judges were to 
determine how much was equitable. It was common in the 
eastern countries to steal children, and sell them to be brought 
up as slaves; but the law of Moses absolutely prohibited this 
practice, and the offender was to be put to death. 

In some cases, offenders were permitted to take shelter on 
the horns of the altar, the place to which the victim was 
bound; but if he was a murderer, and found guilty by the 
judges, then the executioners had a right to drag him from the 
altar and put him to death. 

As-the Jewish state was that of a theocracy , so every viola¬ 
tion of the law, delivered by Moses, was punished as high 
treason to God. The people were to be consi- High Trea- 
dered as guilty of high treason, when they wor- son. 
shipped any of the idols in the heathen nations. It was high 
treason likewise, to set up an image of God. 

In particular, they were strictly commanded not to worship 
the sun, moon, or stars. 

What the English law calls misprision of treason , was 
punished capitally among the Jews.—Thus, if one man saw 
another go to worship in a heathen temple, and did not reveal 
it to the judges, then he was to be put to death; for, to conceal trea¬ 
son, was considered as approving of it. 

In all cases, the traitor was punished by slo- How pun- 
ning, and the witnesses were obliged to perform ished. 
the execution. Nay, so strict was the law with respect to trea¬ 
son, that if one person advised another to idolatry, then the per¬ 
son advised had a right to kill him. If all the inhabitants 




70 


CUSTOMS AND LAWS 


of a city became idolaters, then that city was to be razed to 
the ground, the people were all to be put to death, and the 
place was to remain a heap of ruins for ever. 

It frequently happened, that impostors rose up, under the 
character of prophets 5 but if such enticed the people to com¬ 
mit idolatry, then they were to be stoned to death; nor were 
their highest pretensions to inspiration to screen them from 
punishment. 

All those who pretended to be wizards, who had familiar 
spirits, and who could reveal the knowledge of future events, 
were considered as traitors, and were put to death. Every 
one, whether male or female, who spoke irreverently of the 
name of God, was also to be put to death. 

If a man and woman were taken in the act of adultery, both 
were to be stoned to death ; and the same punishment was in¬ 
flicted on the man who seduced a betrothed virgin, previous 
to her marriage; the virgin herself was to die along with the 
seducer; but this was only done when the crime was commit¬ 
ted in a city, for when it happened in the fields, then the man 
alone was to suffer, because it was presumed he had ravished 
her. 

When the punishment was such as permitted a power in 
the judge to order a criminal to be scourged, then he was to 
command him to lie down in open court, and forty stripes were 
to be given him, but he was not to exceed that number; but 
according to the practice, they seldom exceeded the number of 
thirty-nine. If more than forty stripes had been inflicted on 
the offending party, he would have been considered as infa¬ 
mous ever after, and by only inflicting thirty-nine, it was done 
from motives of humanity, lest the party should be in danger 
of losing his life. 

If a man lay with a woman who was a slave and betrothed, 
the woman was to be scourged, and the man was to offer a 
ram as a trespass-offering; neither of them were to be put to 
death, because the woman was not free. Bastards were not 
permitted to enjoy the same privileges as those who were born 
in wedlock; &nd, that incontinency might be discouraged as 
much as possible, this prohibition was to extend even to the 
tenth generation. 

This order or statute, however, did not prohibit bastards 
from worshipping either in the tabernacle or temple; for they 
were treated in the same manner as the heathens who re¬ 
nounced idolatry; namely, as proselytes who worshipped God 
without the veil of the temple. In many civil respects, likewise, 
they were not considered as members of the Jewish community. 


OF THE ANCIENT JEWS. 


71 


That no injury should be done to young women, it was or¬ 
dered, that if a man lay with a virgin who was not betrothed, 
then he was to pay to her father fifty shekels of silver as part 
of the composition for the injury, and at the same time he was 
obliged to marry her, nor could he, on any account whatever, 
obtain a divorce from her; because in the act of seduction he 
had first set her a bad example. 

With respect to a witness giving evidence in a court of 
justice, the law of Moses provided against perjury. It was 
absolutely necessary, that there should be either p . 
two or three witnesses to prove the truth of every ei J ui y- 
criminal accusation, because tw T o individuals can swear to a 
single fact. In case a man, who appeared as a witness against 
an accused person, should have been suspected of delivering 
false evidence, then both parties were to appear in the taberna¬ 
cle before the judges and the priests, and they were to consider 
of the matter in the most deliberate manner. If it appeared 
to the judges, that the witness had perjured himself, then they 
were to order that the same punishment should be inflicted 
upon him, as would have been inflicted upon the accused 
person, had he been legally convicted. 

The practice of making witnesses the executioners of the 
criminal, had something in it remarkably solemn; for a man 
may swear falsely in a court of justice, from interested or si¬ 
nister motives, but if he has the least spark of conscience re¬ 
maining, he must shudder at the thoughts of becoming the 
executioner of the man, who, by his evidence, was illegally 
condemned. 

Retaliation made a great part of the Jewish law: thus, he 
who put out the eye of another, was to have his own put out; 
he who struck out the tooth of another, w r as to have his own 
tooth struck out; he who disabled another, w r as himself to be 
disabled ; and, whoever burnt down the house of his neigh¬ 
bour, was to have his own house reduced to ashes. 

To what has already been advanced, we may add, that 
all punishments among the Jews, were considered as ade¬ 
quate to the crimes with which the offending prisoners were 
charged. 

If a man was found guilty of a capital offence, and con¬ 
demned to be hanged, his body was not to remain after sun-set 
on the tree; but (says the Mosaic law) “ Thou shalt bury him 
that day , that thy land be not defiled: for he that is hanged i 
accursed of God” 


72 


RELIGIOUS RITES. 


SEC. III.-RELIGIOUS RITES. 

Every Jew is under an indispensable obligation to marry, 
the time appointed for it by their rabbis being at eighteen years 
. of age; and he who lives single till he is twenty, is 

Marriage. rec k onec [ to live in the actual commission of a 
known sin. This is grounded on the duty of procreation, in obe¬ 
dience to that command which God gave to Adam and Eve, as 
related in the 1st chapter of Genesis, “ Be fruitful, and multiply 
and replenish the earth.” On the other hand, as a single man 
is often subject to commit fornication, they think it a duty in¬ 
cumbent on him to marry, and remove the temptation. 

There are several passages in the Old Testament which 
might be adduced to justify a 'plurality of wives; and the 
Eastern Jews frequently practise it; but the Germans do not 
allow it at all; nor do the Italians approve, though they some¬ 
times comply with it, when after many years of cohabitation, 
they have had no issue by a first wife.—The laws of the 
greater part of Europe, are, however, quite averse to poly¬ 
gamy. 

They are allowed to marry their nieces, that is, their bro¬ 
ther’s or sister’s daughters, and likewise their first cousins ; 
but a nephew must not intermarry with his aunt, that the law 
of nature may not be reversed: for when the uncle marries 
his niece, the same person remains as the head, who was so 
before; but when the nephew marries his aunt, he becomes, 
as it were, her head, and she must pay homage to him ; by 
which means the law is reversed. The other degrees of con¬ 
sanguinity which are forbidden, may be seen in the 18 th chap¬ 
ter of Leviticus. 

Some are very cautious how they marry a woman who has 
buried two or more husbands; branding her with the igno¬ 
minious title of a husband-killer: but this is not prohib?ted, 
and is less to be understood of a man, who may have had two 
or more wives. 

A widow, or a woman divorced from her husband, cannot 
marry again, till ninety days after the death of the one, or se¬ 
paration of the other, that it may thereby be certainly known 
whether the first husband is father of the child, which may 
afterwards be born. 

If a man dies, and leaves behind him an infant that sucks, 
the widow cannot marry again till the child be two years old; 
the rabbis having limited that time, for the better maintenance 
and education of the orphan. 


RELIGIOUS RITES. 


73 


The Jews often marry their children, very young, though 
the marriage is not consummated till they are of a proper age; 
therefore, when a child who is under ten years of age, (whe¬ 
ther her father be alive or dead,) becomes a widow, and after¬ 
wards marries with the consent of her mother, or brothers, a 
man whom she does not approve of, she may have a divorce 
at any time, till she attains the age of twelve years and one 
day, at which period she is deemed a woman. If she declares, 
that she will not have such a man, it is sufficient. And when 
she has taken two witnesses to set down her refusal in writing, 
she may obtain a divorce, and marry again with whom she 
pleases. 

When the Jews have settled the terms of accommodation, 
the marriage articles are signed by the husband, and the rela¬ 
tions of the wife; after which the former pays Betrothings 
a formal visit to the latter, and, before witnesses, and weddings 
takes her by the hand, saying, “ Be thou my spouse .” In some 
countries the bridegroom presents the bride with a ring at the 
same time, and then marries her. But this is not the usual 
practice in England, Italy, or Germany. They are often so¬ 
lemnly engaged for six or twelve months, and sometimes two 
years, according to the convenience of the parties, or the 
agreement made between them; during which time the young 
lover pays frequent visits to his mistress, and spends his time 
in her company with the utmost familiarity, but with a strict 
regard to decency and good manners. 

In a part of the marriage articles, the bridegroom covenants 
to give his wife, by way of jointure, the sum of fifty crowns; 
all his effects, even to his cloak , being engaged for the due 
performance of this agreement. The sum is moderate, to 
render the marriage of poor maidens easy.—But the wife 
must deliver into her husband’s hands, all the effects which 
she may afterwards inherit. 

When the marriage-day is appointed, (which is usually at 
the time the moon changes, and in case the bride be a maid, 
on a Wednesday or Friday, but if a widow, on a Thursday,) 
the bride, if she be free from her terms, goes the first night 
into a bath, in the presence of other women, and there washes 
herself. But if she be not free from ber terms, all carnal con¬ 
versation with her is prohibited, till she can wash. How¬ 
ever, the nuptial solemnities are seldom delayed upon that ac¬ 
count. 

The eight days which precede the marriage, are usually 
grand-days; the betrothed couple and their friends giving a 
loose to pleasure, laugh, sing, dance, and cast away care. 

7 




74 


RELIGIOUS RITES. 


Some insist that the young couple should fast on the wed¬ 
ding-day, till the blessing be over. 

On the wedding-day, the bride and bridegroom dress in all 
the grandeur and magnificence their circumstances will admit 
of, and the bride is conducted in pomp to the house intended 
for the celebration of the nuptials, by several married women 
and maidens, who are her friends and acquaintance. She is 
first bare-headed, and her hair all loose, and in disorder. After 
this, she is seated between two venerable matrons, and her 
friends flock round about her, comb her head, curl her hair, 
dress her, and put on her veil: for virgin modesty forbids her 
to look her intended husband in the face.—In this she imitates 
the chaste Rebecca, w’ho covered her face when Isaac cast his 
eyes upon her. At Venice, the bride wears a sort of wig, or 
bundle of curls, called favourites, which the Jews call Be- 
netes; in imitation of those which God himself, according 
to the rabbis, adorned Eve’s head with, when he married her 
to Adam. 

For the solemnization of the marriage, the lovers who are 
betrothed, meet at an hour appointed for that purpose, in a 
kind of state-room. The bridegroom is conducted thither by 
the bridemen, friends, &c. and the bride by her train:—the 
whole company crying out, “ Blessed be the man that cometh .” 
They now sit on a nuptial throne, under a canopy, whilst a 
select band of music plays before them ; or whilst children, as 
is the custom in some places, move in solemn order round 
them, having torches in their hands, and singing some appro¬ 
priate epithalamium. All those who are of their synagogue 
being assembled, (that is, ten men at least; else the marriage 
is null and void,) a Taled is put upon the heads of the bride¬ 
groom and bride; it has the tufts hanging down at the cor¬ 
ners, in imitation of Boaz, who threw the skirts of his robe 
over Ruth. In many cases, a velvet canopy, supported by 
four poles, is held over the bride and bridegroom. After this, 
the rabbis of the place, or the reader of the synagogue, or 
some near relation, takes a glass, or any other vessel filled 
with wine, and, having blessed God “ for the creation of man 
and woman , and the institution of matrimony ,” says as fol¬ 
lows : “ Blessed art thou, O Lord, our God ! king of the uni¬ 
verse, the creator of the fruit of the vine. Blessed art thou, 
O Lord, our God! king of the universe, who hath sanctified 
us with his commandments, and hath forbid us fornication, 
and hath prohibited unto us the betrothed, but hath allowed 
unto us those that are married unto us, by the means of the 
canopy, and the wedding-ring: blessed art thou. O Lord ! 


RELIGIOUS RITES. 


75 


the sanctifier of his people Israel, by the means of the canopy, 
and wedlock.” 

Then the bridegroom and bride drink of the wine. The 
bride now walks three times round the bridegroom, and he 
does the same twice round her. This ceremony is said to be 
grounded on Jeremiah, chapter xxxi. verse 22, “A woman 
shall compass a man,” &c. Then the bridegroom, putting a 
ring upon the finger of his bride, who stands on his right 
hand, before two or more credible witnesses, who are com¬ 
monly rabbis, says, “ Thou art my wife, according to the cere¬ 
monies of Moses and Israel.” In Germany, the guests throw 
some grains of corn at them, and say at the same time, “ In¬ 
crease and multiply.”—After this, the marriage articles are 
read, wherein the bridegroom acknowledges the receipt of the 
consideration money, the obligation he is under to make his 
wife a jointure, and to maintain, honour, and cherish her, and 
live peaceably with her all the days of his life. For the due 
performance of all the articles above-mentioned, he gives a 
duplicate to his wife’s relations. After this, more wine is 
brought in a new vessel, and having sung six more benedic¬ 
tions, the bride and bridegroom drink a second time, and the 
residue of the wine is thrown upon the ground, as a declara¬ 
tion of their joy. Every thing being mystical with the Jews, 
it is to be observed, that if the bride be a maid, the glass is 
narrow: but if she be a widow, a wide mouthed goblet is 
used. The glass or vessel being empty, the bridegroom 
throws it on the ground, and breaks it to pieces. This cere¬ 
mony is performed, they say, that their mirth may give them 
an idea of death, who dashes them to pieces like brittle glass, 
and teaches them not to be proud or self-conceited. Others 
say, that the breaking of the glass indicates the impossibility 
of the marriage ties being dissolved ;—the signification being, 
that when the atoms of the glass shall be re-united, the bride 
and bridegroom may separate; but, not till then. In the 
mean time, all persons present cry out, Mazal tou. “ May it 
prove propitious ,” and then withdraw. 

In the evening they make a grand entertainment for their 
friends and relations: and in some places, all the guests who 
were invited present the bride with a piece of plate; some 
before, and some after supper is over. Then follow the seven 
benedictions before mentioned, and after this they all rise from 
table. 

Fowls of some kind are always a part of the wedding-sup¬ 
per. The first dish presented to the bride is a hen with an 
egg, and after she has been served, the guests help themselves 




76 


RELIGIOUS RITES. 


to the remainder. The hen is emblematical, and denotes the 
future fruitfulness of the bride. 

On the sabbath-day morning, after the consummation of, 
their marriage, the bridegroom and the bride go to the syna¬ 
gogue together. The bride is attended by all the women that 
were present at the wedding. At the lessons of the Penta¬ 
teuch, the bridegroom is desired to read: he then promises 
to give liberally to the poor, and all who come with him fol¬ 
low his example. When prayers are over the men wait on 
the bridegroom home, and the women on the bride; after which 
they part, with abundance of courtesy and complaisance. The 
bridegroom, in some places, lives, during the first week, with 
his wife’s relations, where he amuses himself, and entertains 
his friends and acquaintance. 

These are the general practices in all Jewish weddings, 
though there are some little variations observed, according to 
the various countries in which they live. 

If the wife dies, and has no issue, they are obliged to act 
according to the customs of the country they live in, which 
vary almost in every nation. 

Among the Jews, the father lies under an indispensable 
obligation to have his son circumcised on the eighth day, in 
Circumcision obedience to the command in the 17th chapter of 
Genesis, 10th-14th verses. This cannot be done 
till the expiration of the eight days; but in case the child be 
sick or infirm, it may be deferred till he is perfectly recovered. 
Anciently, by the fulfilment of this rite, it was consecrated to 
the service of God. This, no doubt, was then the principal 
end of circumcision, but there do not appear to have been want¬ 
ing other subsidiary objects. Were it necessary, we might 
demonstrate both by quotations from the ancients, and reasons 
drawn from the nature of the member on which circumcision 
is performed, that this operation is really conducive to cleanli¬ 
ness and health among those who practise it in southern cli¬ 
mates. It was a preventive of the disease called the anthrax 
or carbuncle. It has also been considered as having a benefi¬ 
cial tendency in increasing the population in such a climate 
as that of Palestine. 

, The Jews look upon it as a very laudable 

death. neSS ^ ' act i°n, and a bounden duty, to visit the sick, and 
to assist them in the time of their distress. 

When any one is apprehensive that his life is in danger, he 
sends for about ten persons, more or less, as he thinks conve¬ 
nient; one of whom, at least, must be a rabbi. Then, in a 
solemn manner, he repeats the general alphabetical confession, 


RELIGIOUS RITES. 


77 


and utters a prayer, in which he “ humbly begs of God, if it 
be his blessed will, to restore him to his former state of health 
or, if this may not be granted, he then recommends his soul 
to him, and prays that his death may be accepted as an expia¬ 
tion for his sins. If his conscience is overcharged with any 
sin, or if he has any secret which he would reveal, he declares 
it to the rabbi. After all this he begs pardon of God, and of 
all such as he has at any time offended, and forgives, likewise, 
all such as have offended him, and even his most inveterate 
enemies. In case he has any children, or domestics, he calls 
them to his bedside and gives them his benediction; and if 
his own father or mother be present, he receives their bless¬ 
ing. If he has an inclination to make his will, and to dispose 
of his worldly estate, he has free liberty to execute it in such a 
manner as he thinks most convenient. 

There are some who take care to have a public prayer put 
up for them in the synagogue, and change their names, as an 
indication of their change of life; and, as it is said, to cheat 
the devil. At such times, they promise and bestow their 
charity on the synagogues, as well as on the poor. 

When the person who is ill is in danger of death, or just 
expiring, they never leave him alone, but watch with him day 
and night. They salute him, and take their last farewell, just 
at the moment when the soul is separating from the body. To 
be present at the separation of the soul from the body, especially 
if the person be a learned or pious man, in their opinion, is not 
only a laudable, but a meritorious action. The person who 
is present when the sick man gives up the ghost, according to 
ancient custom, tears some part of his own garments. This 
rent is generally made on the right side of the forepart of the 
clothes, and must be the eighth of a yard in length. When 
they mourn for a father or mother, ail the clothes must be rent 
on the right side; whereas the left side of the outward gar¬ 
ment, only, is torn, if it be for a distant relation. The rent is 
always from top to bottom; whereas that of the ancient priests 
was formerly from bottom to top. In Holland the Jews make 
it on the top, near the buttons, and at the expiration of seven 
or eight days have it sewn up again. In some parts of Ger¬ 
many the Jewish women, who lose their husbands, usually tear 
their head-dress. It is said, that if the widow intends to marry 
again, she is only to pretend to do it; for if she actually tears 
them, it is a certain sign that she intends to remain a 
widow. 

There are some who, at such a time, will throw into the 
street all the water which they have in the house, or can find 

y# 


73 


RELIGIOUS RITES. 


in the neighbourhood. This, which is accounted an ancient 
custom, is intended to denote that somebody lies dead not far 
from the place. ' ] 

As soon as any one is dead, his eyes and 

unera s. mou th are closed, his body is laid upon the 
ground in a sheet, his face is covered, and a lighted taper is 
set by his head. 

A pair of linen drawers is immediately provided, and some 
women are sent for to sew them ; who, for the most part, per¬ 
form this friendly office out of charity and good will, After 
this the corpse is thoroughly washed with warm water, in 
which camomile and dried roses have been boiled. In the 
next place, a shirt and drawers are put on, and over them 
some put a kind of surplice of fine linen, a taled, or square 
cloak, and a white cap on the head. 

They now bend his thumb close to the palm of the hand, 
and tie it with the strings of his Taled; for he goes to the 
other world with his veil on. The thumb thus bent, stands in 
the form of Shaddai, which is one of God’s attributes; this 
is the reason which the Jews give for a custom, that secures 
the body from the devil’s clutches. The deceased, in all other 
respects, has his hand open as a testimony that he relinquishes 
all his worldly goods. The washing of the body is intended 
to denote that the deceased purified himself from the pollutions 
of this life by a sincere repentance, and was ready and pre¬ 
pared to receive a better from the hands of the Almighty. 
Buxtorf says, that they burn wine, and put an egg in it, and 
therewith anoint the head of the corpse. Some perform this 
unction at their own houses, and others at the house of the 
living; that is, the Hebrew dialect, the church-yard. He 
adds, that after this ablution all the apertures of the body are 
stopped up. 

When dressed, he is laid on his back in a coffin made on 
purpose, with one linen cloth under, and another over him. 

If the party deceased be a person of considerable note, his 
coffin is made in some places with a pointed top; and if a 
rabbi, a considerable number of books is laid upon it. Then 
the coffin is covered with black, and a small bag of earth is 
deposited under the head of the defunct. The coffin is now 
nailed up, and conveyed to a grave as near the place as possi¬ 
ble where the family of the-deceased are interred. 

All the people now crowd round about it; and since the 
attendance on a corpse, and the conveyance of it to the grave, 
is looked upon as a very meritorious action, they all carry it 
upon their shoulders by turns, some part of the way. In some 




RELIGIOUS RITES. 


79 


places the mourners follow the corpse with lighted flambeaux 
in their hands, singing some melancholy anthem as they 
march along. In others, this ceremony is omitted; the rela¬ 
tions, however, who are in mourning, accompany the corpse 
in tears to the grave. 

In this solemn maimer, the dead are carried to the burial- 
place, which is most commonly a field set apart for that pur¬ 
pose, called Beth Hachaim, or “ House of the living ;” the 
dead being looked upon as living, on account of their immor¬ 
tal souls. When the deceased is laid in his grave, if he has 
been a person of any extraordinary merit, there is generally 
a proper person present, who makes his funeral oration. As 
soon as this eulogium is over, they repeat the prayer called 
Ridduc Addin, “ the justice of the judgmentf which begins 
with these words of Deuteronomy, chapter xxxii. verse 4, 
“ He is the rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are 
judgment,” &c. 

In some countries, when a coffin is brought within a short 
space of the grave, or before it is taken out of the house, ten 
men go in a solemn manner seven times round it, repeating a 
prayer for his soul; this is the practice in Holland: but in 
other parts this ceremony is not observed. The nearest rela¬ 
tion now rends some part of his garments, and then the corpse 
is put into the grave, and covered with earth; each friend 
throwing a handful or spadeful in, till the grave is filled up. 
The coffin must be so placed in the grave, as not to touch 
another coffin. 

The Jews account it a sin, either in man or woman, to tear 
their flesh, or their hair, on this melancholy occasion, either 
when they weep over the deceased, or at any time afterwards; 
for, in Deuteronomy chapter xiv., it is written, “Ye shall not 
cut yourselves,” &c. But as soon as the coffin is conveyed 
out of the house for sepulture, a brick, or broken pot, is thrown 
out after it, to denote that all sorrow is driven away. Those 
who, during the life-time of the deceased, neglected to.be re¬ 
conciled with him, must touch his great toe, and beg his par¬ 
don, in order that the deceased may not accuse them at God’s 
tribunal, on the day of the resurrection. 

At their departure from the grave, every one tears up two 
or three handfuls of grass, and throws it behind him, repeating, 
at the same time, these words of the 72d Psalm, verse 6, 
“ They of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth.” 
This they do by way of acknowledgment of the resurrection. 
Then they wash their hands, sit down, and rise again, nine 
times successively, repeating the 91st Psalm, “ He that dwell-: 


80 


RELIGIOUS RITES. 


eth in the secret place of the Most High.” After this, they re¬ 
turn to their respective places of abode. 

When the nearest relations of the party deceased are returned 
home from the burial, be they father, mother, child, husband, 
wife, brother, or sister, they directly seat them- 

Mourning. selves on the ground; and having pulled off 
their shoes, refresh themselves with bread, wine, 
and hard eggs, which are placed before them; according as it is 
written in the 31st chapter of Proverbs, verse 6. “ Give strong 
drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine to those that 
be heavy of heart,” &c. He whose usual place it is to crave 
a blessing on their meals, now introduces appropriate words 
of consolation. In the Levant, and in several other places, 
the friends of the deceased send in provisions for ten days suc¬ 
cessively, morning and night, to some of the nearest relatives, 
for the entertainment of such guests as they think proper to 
invite; and on a day appointed, they themselves partake of 
the feast, and condole with them. 

When the dead body is conveyed from the house, his cover¬ 
let is folded double, his blankets are rolled up, and laid upon a 
mat; afterwards, a lamp is lighted up at the bed’s head, which 
burns for a week without intermission. 

Such as are related to the deceased, reside in the house for 
ten days together, and during all that time sit and eat upon 
the ground, except on the sabbath day, on which they go with 
a select company of their friends and acquaintance to the syna¬ 
gogue, where they are more generally condoled with, than at 
any other place. During these ten days, they are not allowed 
to do any manner of business; neither can the husband lie 
with his wife. Ten persons, at least, go every night and 
morning to pray with them under their confinement. Some 
add to their devotions on this solemn occasion, the 49th 
Psalm, “ Hear this all ye people,” &c., and afterwards pray 
for the soul of their deceased friend. 

The Jews dress themselves in such mourning as is the fashion 
of the country in which they live, there being no divine direc¬ 
tion relating thereunto. For full thirty days, the mourner is 
not permitted to bathe, perfume, or shave his beard. Indeed, 
tattered clothes, sprinkled with ashes, and a general slovenly 
appearance, point out the mourning Jew, during this period. 

After the expiration of the ten days, they leave the house, 
and go to the synagogue, where several of them order lamps 
to be lighted on each side of the Hechal, or Ark , procure 
prayers to be said, and offer charitable contributions for the 
soul of the deceased. This ceremony is repeated at the close 


RELIGIOUS RITES. 


81 


of each month, and likewise of the year: and if the person 
who is dead be a rabbi, or a man of worth and distinction, 
they make his Esped upon those days; that is, a funeral 
harangue in commendation of his virtues. 

A son goes daily to the synagogue, morning and night, 
and there repeats the prayer called Cadish, that is, Holy, for 
the soul of his mother or father, for eleven months succes¬ 
sively; in order to deliver him from purgatory; and some of 
them fast annually on the day of the death of their respective 
relatives. 

In some places, they set a monument over the grave, and 
carve the name of the deceased upon it; also the day, month, 
and year of his decease, and a line or two, by way of enco¬ 
mium.—Some Jews go, from time to time, to the tombs of their 
acquaintances and relatives, to say their prayers. 

They seldom mourn for such as are suicides, or who die 
under excommunication. So far, indeed, are they from re¬ 
gretting the loss of them, that they set a stone over the coffin, 
to signify that they ought to be stoned to death, if they had 
had their deserts. 

SECT. IV.-ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE-WORSHIP-FES¬ 

TIVALS, &C. 

The Sanhedrin, the supreme judicial authority formerly 
existing amonof the Jews, was instituted in the time of the 
Maccabees, (some ascribe to it an earlier origin,) Sanbe 

and was composed of seventy-two members. The drJn e a 1 
high priest generally sustained the office of pre¬ 
sident in this tribunal. The next officers in authority were 
the first and second vice-presidents. The members who were 
admitted to a seat in the Sanhedrin were as follows : 1. Chief 
priests , who are often mentioned in the New Testament and 
in Josephus, as if they were many in number. They consist¬ 
ed partly of priests who had previously exercised the high- 
priesthood, and partly of the heads of the twenty-four classes 
of priests, who were called, in an honorary way, high, or chief 
priests. 2. Elders , that is to say, the princes of the tribes, 
and the heads of family associations. 3. The Scribes , or 
learned men. Not all the scribes and elders were members, 
but only those who were chosen or nominated by the proper 
authority. 

The Talmudists assert that this tribunal had secretaries and 
apparitors, and the very nature of the case forbids us to doubt 
the truth of the assertion. The place of their sitting, however, 


82 


ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE, &C, 


is a question on which there is more difference of opinion. 
The Talmudists state that it was in the temple, but Josephus 
mentions the place of assembling, and also the archives, as 
being not far from the temple, on Mount Zion. But in the 
trial of Jesus, it appears they were assembled, and that very 
hastily, in the palace of the high-priest. 

When they met, they took their seats in such a way as to 
form a semicircle, and the presidents and two vice-presidents 
occupied the centre. At each end was a secretary; one re¬ 
gistered the votes of acquittal—the other of condemnation. 
The proper period of sitting was all the time between the 
morning and evening service. 

The Sanhedrin was the great court of judicature : it judged 
of all capital offences against the law: it had the power of in¬ 
flicting punishment by scourging and by death. Its power 
had been limited in the time of Christ, by the interference of 
the Romans, and the Consistory itself terminated its functions 
upon the destruction of Jerusalem. They were never cable to 
re-establish themselves since,—nor is anything related of them 
in the history of our own times, except the council which the 
Jews held in Hungary in the 17th century, and the con¬ 
vocation held at Paris, under the auspices of Napoleon in 
1806. 

The worship of the synagogue, with its appendant school or 
law court, where lectures were given, and knotty points of the 
The worship law debated, became the great bond of national 
of the syna- union, and has continued, though the monarchical 

gogue. centre of unity in Tiberias disappeared in a few 

centuries, to hold together the scattered nation in the closest 
uniformity. The worship of the synagogue is extremely sim¬ 
ple. Wherever ten Jews were found, there a synagogue 
ought to be formed. The Divine Presence, the invisible She- 
chinah, descends not but where ten are met together; if fewer, 
the Divine Visitant was supposed to say, “ Wherefore come I, 
and no one is here?” It was a custom, therefore, in some of 
the more numerous communities, to appoint ten “ men of lei¬ 
sure,” whose business it was to form a congregation.* The 
buildings were plain ; in their days of freedom it was thought 
right that the house of prayer to God, from its situation or its 
form, should overtop the common dwellings of man; but in 
their days of humiliation, in strange countries, the lowly syna. 
gogue, the type of their condition, was content to lurk undis. 

* Such seems to be the solution of a question on which learned volumes 
have been written. 



ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE, &C. 83 

turbed in less conspicuous situations. Even in Palestine the 
synagogues must have been small, for Jerusalem was said to 
contain 460 or 480 ; the foreign Jews, from the different quar¬ 
ters of the world, seem each to have had their separate build¬ 
ing, where they communicated in prayer with their neighbours 
and kindred. Such were the synagogues of the Alexandri¬ 
ans, the Cyrenians, and others. Besides the regular syna¬ 
gogues, which were roofed, in some places they had chapels 
or oratories, open to the air, chiefly perhaps where their wor¬ 
ship was not so secure of protection from the authorities; 
these were usually in retired and picturesque situations, in 
groves, or on the sea shore. In the distribution of the syna¬ 
gogue, some remote resemblance to the fallen Temple was 
kept up. The entrance was from the east; in the centre stood 
an elevated tribune or rostrum, in the place of the great altar, 
where they only permitted sacrifice, and if from an humble 
and contrite heart, doubtless most acceptable to their Almighty 
Father, prayer was constantly offered, and the book of the 
Law was read. At the west end stood a chest, in which the 
book was laid up, making the place, as it were, the humble 
Holy of Holies, though now no longer separated by a veil, nor 
protected by the Cherubim and Mercy Seat. Particular seats, 
usually galleries, were railed off for the women. 

The chief religious functionary in the synagogue was call¬ 
ed the angel, or bishop. He ascended the tribune, repeated or 
chanted the prayers, his head during the ceremony being co¬ 
vered with a veil. He called the reader from his place, opened 
the book before him, pointed out the passage, and over-looked 
him, that he read correctly. The readers, who were three in 
number on the ordinary days, seven on the morning of the 
sabbath, five on festivals, were selected from the body of the 
people. The Law of course was read, and the prayers like¬ 
wise repeated, in the Hebrew language. The days of public 
service in the synagogue were the Sabbath, the second and 
fifth days of the week, Monday and Thursday. There was 
an officer in the synagogues out of Palestine, and probably 
even within its borders, called an interpreter, who translated 
the Law into the vernacular tongue, usually Greek in the first 
case, or Syro-Chaldaic in the latter. Besides the bishop, there 
were three elders, or rulers of the synagogue, who likewise 
formed a court or consistory for the judgment of all offences. 
They had the power of inflicting punishment by scourging; 
from Origen’s account, the Patriarch of Tiberias had assumed 
the power of life and death. But the great control over the 
public mind lay in the awful sentence of excommunication. 



84 


ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE, &.C. 


The anathema of the synagogue cut off the offender from the 
Israel of God; he became an outcast of society. 

At present, the Jews select for the site of their synagogues 
some eminences, in those cities where the exercise of Judaism 
is allowed. The fabric must be higher than the common 
houses, for they say, “ The house of our God must be magni¬ 
ficent.” The Jews are obliged religiously to observe the re¬ 
spect due to the synagogue, and to forbear talking of business 
there, or even thinking on any worldly advantages. They 
must likewise avoid sleeping there; and looking round about, 
&c. They must continue in a modest posture, and not suffer 
themselves to run into any indecency. 

The title or denomination of rabbi is very ancient; for in 
the Jewish scriptures, both the words rabbi and rabboni 

Rabbis and are to be found, which are synonymous terms, 
doctors. The Pharisees of old assumed this title to them¬ 

selves, with abundance of pride and arrogance, pretending to 
be the sole masters and doctors of the people ; and they carried 
this pretension to such a pitch, as to make the law subject to 
their traditions. Jesus Christ very severely reprimanded 
them for this their insolent deportment. 

The rabbis, besides the privilege of preaching, and instruct¬ 
ing their pupils, have that of binding and loosing, that is, of 
determining whether a thing be forbidden or allowed. When 
this power is conferred upon them, they have the five books of 
Moses, and a key , put into their hands. They create new 
doctors, and ordain them by imposition of hands, as Moses, 
just before his death, laid his hands on Joshua, his successor, 
and gave him his benediction ; but they limit and restrain their 
power as they see most convenient: one being confined to in¬ 
terpret the law, or such questions only as relate thereunto ; and 
another to judge of controversies arising upon those questions. 

At present, according to Buxtorf, the rabbis are elected 
with very little ceremony. He who is to ordain the new 
rabbi, publishes aloud to all the congregation, either on the 
sabbath, or some other solemn festival, that such a one de¬ 
serves to be admitted amongst the rabbis, for his religious 
education, sound learning, and knowledge of the Oral Law; 
and exhorts the people to own and reverence him as such, de¬ 
nouncing excommunication against all those who neglect his 
admonitions. He then gives the candidate the certificate of 
his merit and ability, as a Doctor , or Hacham; and the cere¬ 
mony is often concluded with an elegant entertainment given 
to the old rabbis, and to the rest of his friends and acquaintance. 

The Hacham Rau, who are generally much respected, de- 





„ Procession of Palms, p. 92. 



Repast during the Feast of Tabernacles, p. 92. 




























































































































































































ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE, &C. 


85 


termine all manner of debates ; settle what things are lawful, 
and unlawful; and pass judgment upon religious and civil 
affairs. These men perform all nuptial ceremonies, and issue 
out divorces. They preach the practice of virtue and integrity, 
they interpret the law r s, when qualified, and are the principals 
of the academies. They have the uppermost seats in the sy¬ 
nagogues and assemblies ; and have a power to punish the dis¬ 
obedient, and to excommunicate them when they are obstinate, 
er perverse. 

The privileges of this office are, to be free from all taxes 
and impositions. If a rabbi has any goods, he has a right to 
sell them first, and before all others, that the time he spends 
in negotiating his affairs, may be no impediment to his studies ; 
his business is the first, likewise, to be despatched in all pro¬ 
ceedings at law; and he is allowed to sit upon the bench with 
the judges, &c. Some of these privileges, however, are 
abolished; the Jews having, at present, no sovereign au¬ 
thority. 

There is no festival which the Jews have so great a vene¬ 
ration for, as the sabbath day; because they say it was insti¬ 
tuted immediately after the creation of the world, 
and is mentioned in various places, and at sun- Thesaabat * 
dry times, in their sacred writings; particularly in the deca¬ 
logue, wherein the performance of the least thing upon that 
day is forbidden, and a general rest from all labours is com¬ 
manded. 

They must not either kindle fire, nor extinguish it, upon 
this day, in compliance with what is written in the 35th chap¬ 
ter of Exodus, verse 3. “ Ye shall kindle no fire through¬ 

out your habitations upon the sabbath day.” Nay, they are 
not 'allowed to touch it ; not even to stir it up. They are not 
suffered even to light up or extinguish a lamp; they may em¬ 
ploy, however, any servant that is not a Jew, to kindle their 
fire; if they do not, they either dispose it so that it lights of 
itself, or else they sit iff the cold.—This the Jews do, even in 
Russia, or any other cold country. 

They dress no meat upon the sabbath ; neither are they al¬ 
lowed to taste any thing that has been dressed, or that grew, 
or was gathered on that day. 

They are not allowed to carry any burden on that day; so 
that they wear no more clothes than what is absolutely neces¬ 
sary to cover them. Their exactness extends even to the garb 
of their women, children, and servants, and to the loading of 
their beasts. 

They are forbidden on this day to talk of any worldly af- 





86 


ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE, &.C. 


fairs ; to make any bargain with respect to buying and selling; 
or, to give or take any thing by way of payment. 

Neither must they handle or touch any of the tools of their 
trade, or any other things, the use whereof is prohibited on 
the sabbath day. 

They are not allowed to walk above a mile, that is to say, 
two thousand cubits, out of any market town or village. But 
they can walk as long as they please on the sabbath day, 
provided they go not out of the suburbs of the town wherein 
they live. They always regard the suburbs as a part of the 
town; and when they have a mind to go out of town 
upon this day, they invariably measure the distance allowed 
for "walking, from the end of the suburb. 

They never engage in any work on the Friday, but what 
they can accomplish with ease before the evening; and what¬ 
ever is necessary lor the sabbath, is prepared beforehand. 
About an hour before sunset, they take the provision which is 
intended for the next day, and deposit it in a warm place; af¬ 
ter which all manner of work is over. In some towns, a man 
is appointed on purpose, to give notice about half an hour be¬ 
fore the sabbath begins, that every one may cease from their 
labours in convenient and due time. 

The Jewish sabbath begins half an hour before sunset; 
and, consequently, from that instant, all prohibitions are strict¬ 
ly observed. For this reason, the women, even the most ne¬ 
cessitous, are obliged, previously, to light up a lamp, which 
has seven lights, emblematical of the seven days of the week. 
This lamp burns the greatest part of the night. 

In order to begin the sabbath well, many of them put on 
clean linen, wash their hands and face, and go to the syna¬ 
gogue, where they say the 92d Psalm, “ It is a good thing to 
give thanks to the Lord,” &c. with their common prayers. 
They also thank God, that by his separation of them from 
the rest of mankind, he has reserved and chosen their nation 
from all others, as his only favourites. To these prayers and 
thanksgivings, they add a commemoration of the sabbath, in 
these words, from the 2d of Genesis, “ Thus the heavens 
were finished, &c.—And God blessed the seventh day,” 
&c. 

They go directly home from the synagogue, and their usual 
salutation to each other afterwards, is, “ a good sabbath to 
you,” and not “good night,” or “good morrow.” Moreover, 
the fathers bless their children, and the doctors their pupils, 
on that day; others add to these benedictions, several portions 
of their sacred writings, in commemoration of the sabbath; 


ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE, &C. 87 

some before meat, and some after, according to the custom of 
the place where they sojourn. 

When the whole family is seated at supper, the master of 
the house holds a glass of wine in his hand, and pronounces 
these words, out of the 2d of Genesis, “ Thus the heavens 
were finished,” &c. He then returns God thanks for having 
instituted and appointed the strict observance of the sabbath, 
and blesses the wine ; he now drinks some part of it himself, 
looking steadfastly on the sabbath lamps, and then gives a 
small quantity to such as sit at the table with him. After this, 
he repeats the 23d Psalm, “ The Lord is my shepherd,” &c. 
Then, he blesses the bread, holding it up on high with both 
his hands, whilst he pronounces the name of the Lord. He 
now distributes it all round, and the family eat and amuse 
themselves that evening and the next day as agreeably as 
they can. Supper being over, they wash their hands, and 
some Jews, after they have eaten, repeat the 104th Psalm, 
“Bless the Lord, O my soul,” &c. 

They preach sometimes in the forenoon, and sometimes in 
the afternoon, in their synagogues, or other places appointed 
for divine worship, and take their text from the Pentateuch, 
out of the lessons for the day. They preach in the vulgar 
tongue, and in their sermons they recommend virtue, and dis¬ 
courage vice, illustrating their notions with passages from 
the Pentateuch, and from their most celebrated rabbis. These 
quotations are always delivered in the Llebrew language. 

In the evening they go to the synagogue again, and join 
the remembrance of the sabbath with their common prayers; 
and three, persons read out of the Pentateuch the beginning , 
of the section for the week following.—They have likewise a 
commemoration of the dead, and sometimes a prayer for them 
on the sabbath, after which, those who can afford it, are very 
charitable and beneficent to the poor. 

They usually make three meals in the twenty-four hours 
of the sabbath; the first is on the Friday, after evening ser¬ 
vice ; the other two on the day following. The cloth is never 
removed during the whole time. 

As soon as night comes on, and they can discover three 
stars in the heavens, of any considerable magnitude, the 
sabbath is over, and they are allowed to go to work; because 
the evening prayer, which they rather delay than hasten, is 
then begun. 

To the usual prayer, for the evening, they add a remem¬ 
brance of the sabbath, which is distinguished from the other 
days of the week : also the 91st Psalm, “ He that dwelleth in 


88 


ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE, &C. 


the secret, place of the Most High,” &c. To this, several por¬ 
tions of their scripture, and several benedictions and good 
wishes, are likewise added. 

As before observed, they make the sabbath last as long as 
they can, by prolonging their hymns and prayers: since it is 
a received opinion amongst them, that the souls of the damned, 
as well as those in purgatory, endure no torments upon that 
day. 

The new moon is a festival, because it is instituted and ap¬ 
pointed in the book of Numbers; and because there was a 
new and grand sacrifice offered on that day. 

The new festival is sometimes part of two several 

days, that is, the end of one day, and the beginning 
of another. They are not debarred from working or trading 
upon this day; the women, onty, who are exempted from all 
labour during the festival, lay aside their work, and they all 
indulge themselves a little more than usual in the way of 
living. 

The Jews say that the new moon is in a peculiar manner 
the women’s festival, in commemoration of their liberality in 
parting with their most valuable jewels, to contribute to the 
magnificence of divine service. This action, so singular in a 
sex whose pride principally consists in dress and appearance, 
and to whom nothing is more dear, was performed on the new 
moon of the month of March. 

In their prayers they make mention of the first day of the 
month, and repeat from the 113th to the 118th Psalm, on that 
day. They bring out the Pentateuch, and four persons read 
it, to which is added, the prayer called Mussaf, or addition. 
They also read the institution of the sacrifice, which was 
formerly offered on this day. 

Some Jewish devotees fast on the vigil of this festival, and 
beg of God that the new moon may prove propitious to their 
wishes. 

Some few days after, the Jews, being assembled by night 
on a terrace, or in an open court, consecrate this planet by 
praising God, “who hath been pleased to renew the moon, 
and who will, in the same manner, renew the Jews, his elect 
people,” &c.—The prayer concludes with a blessing addressed 
to God, through the moon, the work of his hands. Three 
leaps, which are to be regarded as the transports of a holy joy, 
attend this benediction ; immediately after which, they say to 
the moon, “ May it be as impossible for my enemies to hurt me, 
as it is for me to touch thee.”—These words are succeeded 
by several imprecations against their enemies. They now 



ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE, &.C. SHIP, 89 

join in a particular prayer to God, in which they style him the 
Creator of the planets, and the restorer of the new moon. 
Then, with their hands devoutly lifted up towards heaven, 
they beg of God to deliver them from all evil; and having 
remembered King David, they salute each other, and depart 
Eclipses of the sun and moon, are looked on, by some Jews, 
as ill omens. 

The Talmudists do not agree in fixing the time when the 
world began. Some insist that it was in the spring, that is, in 
the month Nisan, which is our March; others, 
that it was in autumn, that is to say, in the New-year’s 
month Tisri, which answers to our September. cJay ’ 

This last notion has so far prevailed, that they begin their 
year from that time. And notwithstanding it is written in 
the 12th chapter of Exodus, of the month Nisan, “ This 
month shall be unto you the beginning of months.” Yet after¬ 
wards they altered it, and began their year with the month 
Tisri, or September. 

From thence came the feast Rosch Hasan a, or New-Year's 
Dap, which is kept on the two first days of Tisri ; for, in 
Leviticus, chapter xxiii. verse 24, it is written, “ In the seventh 
month, in the seventh day of the month, shall ye have a sab¬ 
bath,” &c. During this festival all manual operations and 
transactions in trade are entirely laid aside. 

They hold, from tradition, that on this day particularly God 
Almighty judges the actions of the year past, and orders all 
things that shall happen for the year to come. From the first 
day of the month Elul, or August, therefore, they begin 
their penance; which consists in plunging themselves into 
cold water, and in confessing themselves, scourging, and beat¬ 
ing their breasts with their fists, while in the water. In some 
places they wash themselves before it is day, say their prayers, 
and acknowledge their manifold sins and iniquities, and repeat 
some penitential psalms. There are many who give alms 
without ceasing until the day of absolution. This they con¬ 
tinue forty days, and sound a horn on the beginning of the 
month Elul. On New-Year’s-Eve they say all their prayers 
fasting. 

These religious ceremonies are generally observed a week, 
at least, before the feast; and on the eve thereof they generally 
employ their time in washing, and procuring, by way of dis¬ 
cipline, thirty-nine stripes to be given them; as it is written in 
Deuteronomy, chapter xxv. “ Forty stripes he may give him, 
and not exceed,” &c. This flagellation is called Maleuth. 

The ancient Jews formerly laid all their sins upon a he- 
8 * 


90 


ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE, &C. 


goat, which afterwards they drove into the desert; but the 
modern Jews, instead of a goat, now throw them upon the 
fish. After dinner they repair to the brink of a pond, or river, 
and shake their clothes over it with all their force. This prac 
tice is taken from a passage of the prophet Micah, chapter vii. 
verse 19, “ He will have compassion onus; he will subdue 
our iniquities, and cast all our sins into the depths of the 
sea.” 

After these two holy days are over, the Jews still continue 
to rise before day to say their prayers, fast, and do penance, 
until the 10th of the month Tisri, which is the 
The fast of p as ^ or q a y 0 f expiation, and called Jom Hach- 
ipur ; for they consider that the Supreme Being* 
is employed in examining the actions of mankind during 
the first nine days, and that he pronounces sentence on the 
tenth. In the 23d chapter of Leviticus it is said, “ On the 
tenth of the seventh month, there shall be a day of atonement,” 
&c., and during that day all manner of work is laid aside, 
as on the sabbath. They observe this fast with such strict¬ 
ness, that they neither eat nor drink any thing; thinking,' 
by this abstinence, that their names will be enrolled in the 
Book of Life, and blotted out of the Book of Death, wherein 
they would assuredly be found without due repentance. 

They indulge themselves in eating on the eve of this fes¬ 
tival, because the next day is a fast. Many of them wash, and 
have thirty-nine stripes given them, called Maleuth ; and 
such as are possessed at that time of other people’s effects, are 
commanded to make restitution. They likewise ask pardon 
of such as they have injured, and forgive those that have 
injured them. Nay, they seek them out, and sue for peace 
and reconciliation ; and if this be refused, they protest against 
such an implacable spirit before three witnesses, and thrice 
return to the charge; after which the penitent’s conscience is 
entirely discharged from all animosity and hatred. They 
likewise give alms, and show all the demonstrations of a sin¬ 
cere repentance. 

Two or three hours before the sun sets they go to prayers, 
and then to supper ; but all must be over before sun-set. They 
now dress themselves in new robes, or put on their funeral 
clothes, and thus attired, each with a taper in his hand, they 
go without their shoes to the synagogue, which, on this night, 
is splendidly illuminated with lamps and candles. There 
each man lights his taper, and repeats several prayers and 
confessions in a loud, but melancholy tone, as a demonstra¬ 
tion of the sincerity of his repentance. The confession of 


ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE, &C. 


91 


each penitent is alphabetically digested, each sin having its 
proper letter, so as to be recollected with the greatest ease. 
The external signs of godly sorrow, at once conspicuous in a 
repentant Jew, who condemns himself before God, by a long 
account of his transgressions, is certainly very remarkable. 
These signs are dirty tattered clothes, mourning, or shrouds; 
a melancholy and dejected countenance, a long beard; down¬ 
cast eyes, made languid by penance, and disposed to weeping; 
a holy eagerness determining the penitent to press through 
the crowd of devotees, and be foremost in the synagogue; and 
so perfect a distraction as to deprive him of the use of his 
senses, whilst he is running over the alphabet of his sins. In 
short, he appears to have just strength enough to support his 
body during the meditation of the soul. This lasts three 
hours at least; after which they ga home to bed. Some, in¬ 
deed, stay all night long, and all the next day, in the syna¬ 
gogue, saying their prayers and repeating psalms. In the 
mean time, the women light up candles and lamps at home, 
and according as the light burns, prognosticate good or evil 
fortune. 

It ought to be remarked, that those who have led a scanda¬ 
lous and dissolute life, are not only admitted, but invited , into 
the congregation, on the first evening of the festival. Two 
Rabbis, who stand on each side of the chaunter, perform this 
solemn invitation, and declare to the congregation, “ That they 
are allowed to pray with the wicked.”—After which, the 
chaunter opens the Hechal, and sings a prayer of moderate 
length, which the congregation repeat after him, but not so 
loud as to be heard. This cancels all rash vows, oaths, and 
resolutions, of the preceding year, in case they were made 
voluntarily, without any compulsion. 

The next morning, such as went home, repair again by 
day-break to the synagogue, dressed as before, and there stay 
till night, standing all the time, saying their prayers without 
intermission, repeating psalms and confessions, and beseech¬ 
ing God to pardon all their transgressions. 

In the course of the service, various portions of scripture 
are read, particularly part of Leviticus, chapter xxvi., Num¬ 
bers, chapter xxix., and Isaiah, chapter lvii. They mention 
in their prayers the additionaLsacrifi.ee of the day, and entreat 
God to build their sanctuary, to gather their dispersions 
among the Gentiles, and conduct them to Jerusalem, where 
they may ofFer the sacrifice of atonement, agreeably to the Mo¬ 
saic law. In the afternoon service, besides portions of the law 
and prophets, the greatest part of the book of Jonah is read 


92 


ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE, &C. 



Some Jews prepare their tents for the Feast of Tabernacles, 
immediately after the Expiation. 

On the fifteenth day of the same month, Tisri, is the Feast , 
of Tents, Tabernacles, or Booths; which is called Succoth, 

The feast of * n commemorat i° n of their encampment in the 
Tabernacles, wilderness, when they departed out of Egypt; 

and under which they were preserved as a nation 
for forty years together, in the midst of frightful and barren 
deserts. In the 23d chapter of Leviticus, it is written, “ In the 
15th day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the 
fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast to the Lord seven days ; 
on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day 
shall be a sabbath. And ye shall take you on the first day 
the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the 
boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall 
rejoice before the Lord, your God, seven days. Ye shall 
dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall 
dwell in booths : that your generations may know that I made 
the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them 
out of the land of Egypt.” 

Every one therefore makes a booth, or tent, in some place 
near his house, which he covers with leaves, and adorns in 
the best manner that he can. The rabbis have been very 
punctual as to the fashion and nature of these booths, as well 
as their dimensions. No tent must be more than twenty 
cubits high, nor less than ten spans. Such as are rich adorn 
them with tapestry, over which they hang boughs of trees 
laden with fruit, as oranges, lemons, and grapes. These tents 
must be neither set up under a house nor tree. They eat and 
drink in these tents, and some lie all night in them; or at 
least spend in them so much time of the night and day, as 
they used to pass at home, during the eight davs that the fes¬ 
tival lasts. 

It continues nine days in reality, although the law institu¬ 
ted and commanded seven ; but ancient custom has added one ; 
and another day was ordained over and above for the solemn 
assembly, in Numbers, chapter xxix. verse 35. The two first, 
and the two last days of this festival, like those of the Pass- 
over, are very solemn; but the other five are not so strictly 
observed. J 

This festival of Tents, or Tabernacles, begins at home, with 
some particular benedictions, and is succeeded by a supper. 
Private devotion now succeeds the public; and the father of 
the family never begins to consecrate the festival, till he has 
been first at prayers in the synagogue till night. They leave 



ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE, &C. 93 

their terns at the end of the eighth day, as soon as niodit 
draws on. ° 

On the 14th of the month Adar, which is our March, or 
Febiuaiy, the feast of Purim is observed, in commemoration 
of Esther, who upon that day, preserved the peo- T1 
pie of Israel from a total extirpation, by the con- Chances 1 ° 
spiracy of Haman, who was hanged, with all his 
children. This feast was called Purim, because it was writ¬ 
ten in the 9th chapter of Esther, “ Therefore they called those 
days Purim,” &c.; the word signifying Lots or Chances; 
for Haman, their enemy, had cast lots to destroy them on 
those two days. 

The first only, however, is strictly and solemnly observed. 
They fast on the eve, but during these two days they may 
traffic, or do any manner of work; yet, on the first day, 
though under no obligation, they voluntarily abstain from both. 

On the first night, they go to the synagogue, where, after 
their ordinary prayers, they commemorate their happy deli¬ 
verance from that fatal conspiracy, and the Chazan reads and 
explains the whole book of Esther, which is written on vel¬ 
lum, and rolled up like the Pentateuch. They also call it 
Megiiilla, or volume. The Chazan, or Reader , is allowed 
to sit at this lesson, whereas he must stand while he reads the 
law. After he has unrolled the volume, he pronounces three 
prayers, and returns thanks to Almighty God, for calling them 
together to share this ceremony; and for delivering them out 
of the merciless hands of Haman. He then reads the history 
of Haman and Esther. 

The Jews observe similar ceremonies in the service of the 
next morning, and read on this day out of the Pentateuch, the 
17th chapter of Exodus, verse 8, “ Then came Amalek,” &c. 
They have, likewise, particular prayers and blessings for this 
happy occasion. 

On this feast they bestow public alms upon the poor, and 
all relations and friends visit, and send each other presents of 
such things as are good to eat. Scholars make presents to 
their tutors ; masters to their servants; and persons of distinc¬ 
tion to their inferiors. In short, the whole day is spent in 
cheerfulness and gayety, as it is written in the 9th chapter of 
Esther, “ That they should make them days of feasting and 
joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the 
poor,” &c. 

When the year consists of two Adars, the Jews call the 
14th day of the first Adar, the little Purim ; but it is merely 
nominal for none of the above ceremonies are observed thereon. 


94 


ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE, &.C. 


The 15th day of the month Nisan, which of- 
t ^p *f ast °/ ten answers to our April, is the first day of the 

e aissover. p assover ^ w pi c h is called Pesach, or the pas¬ 
sage over , in commemoration of the departure of the Jews from 
Egypt. It continues a whole week ; but such as live out of 
Jerusalem, and its territories, make it hold eight days, accord¬ 
ing to the ancient custom, wdien the new moon, by the San¬ 
hedrin’s order, was proclaimed, without any computation. 
This festival is ordained in the 12th chapter of Exodus, 
and in several other parts of the Bible. The sabbath, 
which precedes the Passover, is called the Grand Sabbath ; 
on which day the rabbis preach a sermon on the Paschal 
Lamb. 

The two first and two last days of the Passover, are solemn 
festivals, on which no person is permitted either to work, nor 
do any manner of business ; nay, they keep them as strictly as 
the sabbath; only that they make a fire, dress their meat, and 
carry what things they want from place to place. On the four 
middle days they are only obliged to refrain from work, but 
are permitted to touch money. 

During these eight days they must neither eat, nor have, 
any leavened bread, or any leaven in their houses, nor even 
in their custody; so that they eat none but unleavened bread 
all that time, according to Exodus, chapter xii. verses 15, 16, 
17. This bread they call Azyma. 

In order fo obey this precept as punctually as possible, the 
master takes a wax candle, and searches the house over with 
the utmost care, to clear it of every thing that is fermented, 
prying into every corner, and even into all the trunks and 
cupboards. He now beseeches God to make up the defects 
of his search, “ that all the leavened bread which is in the 
house, may become like the dust of the earth, and be reduced 
to nothing.” When the house is well scoured, they white¬ 
wash it, and supply it with new table and kitchen furniture, or 
with such as is reserved for the service of this day only. If 
they have been used before, and are of metal, they must be 
first heated in a forge, and newly polished before they can be 
used ; because nothing which has touched leavened bread may 
be made use of during those eight days. About eleven o’clock 
on the next day, they burn a bit of bread, to give notice, that 
the prohibition against leavened bread is then begun ; and this 
ceremony is attended with a particular declaration, that the head 
of the family has no leaven in his custody; that if he has, it is 
unknown to him, and that he hath done to the utmost of his 
power to prevent it. 


ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE, &C. 


95 


They go to prayers in the evening; and at their return 
home, the master, with his family and other domestics, after 
washing their hands, sit down to a table which is duly pre- 
pared for their entertainment in the day time, and set off with 
all the elegance and grandeur that the circumstances of each 
person will admit of. Instead of the ceremony which was 
formerly observed, in conformity to the 12th chapter of Exo¬ 
dus, viz. “ To eat the lamb with unleavened bread, and bitter 
herbs,” &c. they have some small pieces of lamb, or kid, dres¬ 
sed with unleavened bread. Sometimes they have a plate cover¬ 
ed, in which there are three mysterious cakes, one for the high 
priest, one for the Levites, and a third for the people ; also the 
blade-bone of a shoulder of lamb, or, at least, some part of it. 
7die Portuguese Jews have the bone on the table during the 
whole eight days of the Passover. When the shoulder is 
served up whole, at this ceremony, they have a hard egg with 
it. To this they add a dish representing the bricks which 
their ancestors were formerly forced to make in Egypt. This 
meat is a thick paste, composed of apples, almonds, nuts, figs, 
(fee. which they dress in wine, and season with cinnamon, 
broke only into pieces, to represent the straw that they made 
use of in the making of their bricks. In another dish, they 
have celery, lettuce, chervil, cresses, wild succory, and pars¬ 
ley. These are their bitter herbs. A cruet full of vinegar, 
and another of oil, are set on the table near the sallad. 

The Jews make a great difference between the ancient and 
modern way of celebrating the Passover. Formerly, they 
used to eat the lamb roasted whole; but ever since their sacri¬ 
fices have been abolished, which could be offered no where 
but at Jerusalem, they roast one part of it, and boil another; 
nay, sometimes cut it in pieces, which is enough to prevent its 
being sacrificed. The want of their sacrifices, likewise, obli¬ 
ges them, at present, to suppress several hymns, which relate 
to the Paschal lamb; and their dispersion obliges them, also, 
to beg of God to re-establish Jerusalem, the temple, and its 
sacrifices, and to deliver them at this day, as he formerly did 
their forefathers, from the tyranny of the Egyptians. The 
modern Jews conclude their meal with the unleavened bread, 
but in former times they ended it with the lamb ; and they now 
omit girding their loins, taking a staff in their hands, and pull¬ 
ing off their shoes when they eat the lamb; all which was 
practised under the ancient law : but they take care, however, 
to preserve that humility and attention which are due to this 
religious ceremony. They decline their heads all the time 
they are eating; and such Jews as are eminent for their piety, 


ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE, &C. 


96 

put nothing into their mouths, without meditating on the se¬ 
veral mysteries with the utmost respect and veneration. 

From the day after the Passover to the thirty-third day fol¬ 
lowing, they spend their time in a kind of mourning, they 
neithe^ marry, nor dress themselves in any new clothes, nei¬ 
ther do they cut their hair, nor show any demonstrations of 
public joy; because, at that time, that is, from the day aftei the 
Passover until the thirty-third day after, there was once a great 
mortality amongst the pupils of Rabbi Hachiba, who was 
one of their most celebrated doctors. After the death of some 
thousands, the sickness ceased on the thirty-third day pf the 
Homer. This day is therefore kept with general rejoicings, 
and puts an end to all appearance ot sorrow or concern. 

The Jews call the fifty days which intervene between the 
Passover and the feast of Pentecost, Homer-days. On the 
Pentecost fiftieth day of the Homer, which is the sixth of 
Sivan, is celebrated the festival Siiavuoth, or 
of Weeks ; which is so named, because it is kept at the end of 
the seven weeks, which they compute from the Passover. At 
present, it is observed for two days together. 

These two days are observed almost as strictly?' as the Passo¬ 
ver holidays; for no work is allowed to be done upon them, 
neither can the Jews transact any business, nor, in short, do 
any thing more than on the sabbath : excepting that they are 
allowed to kindle their fire, dress their victuals, and carry 
whatever they want from place to place. 

At the feast of Pentecost, five persons read the sacrifice of 
the day, and likewise the history of Ruth, because frequent 
mention is made there of the harvest. At this time they re¬ 
gale themselves with all sorts of dainties made of milk, which, 
in their opinion, is a symbol of the law, both on account of its 
sweetness and its whiteness; and as the Jews take a pride in 
having, as far as possible, the most express and lively images 
of the most remarkable circumstances that occurred at the 
birth of their religion, they never forget to serve up at table 
on this day, a cake made moderately thick, which they call 
the Cake of Sinai. This is to remind them of Mount Sinai, 
on which God gave them the law. 

The Jews formerly called Pentecost the feast of the Har¬ 
vest, and day of First Fruits, because the first of their corn and 
fruit was at that time offered in the temple, which was the close 
of this solemnity: but this can never be in Europe, harvest 
falling'always much later than Whitsuntide. It might, how¬ 
ever, bear this name in the land of Canaan, Arabia, and in 
the neighbourhood of the Red Sea. 






1. Sabbath Lamp. 2. Unleavened Bread. 3. Rams Horns, p. 86. 6. 



Search for leaven, p. 94. 



















































































































































ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE, &C. 


97 


Upon this day, their tradition assures us, that the law was 
given on Mount Sinai ; for which reason they adorn their 
synagogues, the Hechal, or Ark, the reading desk; also their 
lamps and candlesticks, and even their houses, with roses and 
other gay and odoriferous flowers and herbs, beautifully wreath¬ 
ed in the form of crowns and festoons. Of these decorations 
they are very profuse. 

Their prayers are adapted to the feast, and they read the 
account of the sacrifice made on that day, out of the Penta¬ 
teuch : also the Aftara, out of the prophets, and the bene¬ 
diction for their prince. In the afternoon there is a sermon 
preached, in commemoration of the law. 

When the second day of the feast is over, the ceremony of 
the Habdalla is performed in the evening, as at the close of 
the Passover, to denote that the feast is concluded. 


✓ 


PART II 

HISTORY AND RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS OF THE MAHOMETANS. 


CHAPTER I. 

LIFE OF MAHOMET. 

It is an often repeated, but just remark, that “ Great effects 

frequently proceed from little causes.” This is preeminently 

true when applied to Mahometanism: since there 

. i i c • Manometa- 

appears to be scarcely any ground of comparison nigm< 

between its author and the changes which his 
system has wrought in the world; changes by far greater 
than any others introduced into the civilized world by a single 
cause, if we except those wrought by Christianity. 

Mahometanism has now existed for more than twelve hun¬ 
dred years. It has spread its delusions over some of the fair¬ 
est portions of the globe. At the present time. Countries 
it may be found holding an almost undisputed where it exists, 
sway throughout the Turkish dominions in Europe, Asia, 
and Africa; in the Barbary states, in the interior of Africa; 
9 





LITE OF MAHOMET. 


$3 


genius of 
author. 


the eastern coast of Africa, and the island of Madagascar; in 
Arabia ; the Persian states; the Russian states of Little Tar¬ 
tary, Astrachan, Kazan, Kirghis, Kazaks, &c.; amongst the 
independent Tartars; in a great part of Hindoostan; many 
of the eastern islands, as Malay, Sumatra, Java, &c. &c. and 
may be traced in different parts even of the vast empire of 
China. Its blinded and deluded votaries are estimated at 
from one hundred, to one hundred and twenty millions. 

That Mahomet was a remarkable man in some respects 
must be admitted. He had doubtless native talents of a supe¬ 
rior order, and an ambition for power and autho- 
of"iviahometef r *ty which scarcely knew any bounds ; but these 
nism notto be are insufficient to account for the religious and 
attributed en- political ascendency which he gained, or the 
tirely to the w jde diffusion and enduring permanence of that 
lts system of imposture which he palmed upon the 
world. The means employed by him were en¬ 
tirely disproportioned to the success which crowned his efforts. 

How then shall the problem of his success be resolved ? 
The state of the eastern world, where this imposture began, 
was indeed favourable to its spread. For several 
centuries following the apostolic age, the Chris¬ 
tian religion subsisted in a great degree in its 
original purity and simplicity. But a gradual de¬ 
cline of the spirit of Christianity took place. Ig¬ 
norance, superstition, and corruption prevailed to 
an alarming extent; and by the commencement of the seventh 
century, the state of the Christian world had become gloomy 
and appalling. In the eastern parts of the Roman empire, es¬ 
pecially Syria and the countries bordering upon Arabia, as 
well as in some parts of Arabia itself, these evils were aggra¬ 
vated by the numerous sects and heresies that prevailed, and 
by the incessant controversial wars which they waged with 
each other. The church was torn to pieces by the furious 
disputes of the Arians, Sabellians, Nestorians, Eutychians, 
and Collyridians, by whom the great doctrines of Christianity 
were so confounded with metaphysical subtleties and the jar¬ 
gon of schools, that they ceased, in great measure, to be re¬ 
garded as a rule of life, or as pointing out the only way of 
salvation. The religion of the Gospel, the blessed source of 
peace, love, and unity among men, became, by the perverse¬ 
ness of sectaries, a firebrand of burning contention. Council 
after council was called—canon after canon was enacted—pre¬ 
lates were traversing the country in every direction in the 
prosecution of party purposes, resorting to every base art, 


Not to the state 
of the Chris¬ 
tian world, al¬ 
though that 
Wijs favoura¬ 
ble. 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


99 


\ 

to obtain the authoritative establishment of their own peculiar 
tenets, and the condemnation and suppression of those of their 
adversaries. The contests also for the episcopal office ran so 
high, particularly in the West, that the opposing parties re¬ 
peatedly had recourse to violence, and, in one memorable in¬ 
stance, the interior of a Christian church was stained by the 
blood of a number of the adherents of the rival bishops, who 
fell victims to their fierce contentions. Yet it is little to be 
wondered at, that these places of preferment should have been 
so greedily sought after by men of corrupt minds, when we 
learn, that they opened the direct road to wealth, luxury, and 
priestly power. Ancient historians represent the bishops of 
that day, as enriched by the presents of the opulent, as riding 
abroad in pompous state in chariots and sedans, and surpass¬ 
ing in the extravagance of their feasts, the sumptuousness of 
princes ; while, at the same time, the most barbarous ignorance 
was fast overspreading the nations of Christendom, the eccle¬ 
siastical orders themselves not excepted. Among the bishops, 
the legitimate instructers and defenders of the church, num¬ 
bers were to be found incapable of composing the poor dis¬ 
courses which their office required them to deliver to the peo¬ 
ple, or of subscribing the decrees which they passed in their 
councils. The little learning in vogue was chiefly confined 
to the monks. But they, instead of cultivating science, or dif¬ 
fusing any kind of useful knowledge, squandered their time 
in the study of the fabulous legends of pretended saints and 
martyrs, or in composing histories equally fabulous. 

This woful corruption of doctrine and morals in the clergy 
xvas followed, as might be expected, by a very general depra¬ 
vity of the common people; and though we cannot suppose 
that God left himself altogether without witnesses in this dark 
period, yet the number of the truly faithful had dwindled 
down to a mere remnant, and the wide-spreading defection 
seemed to call aloud for the judgments of heaven.* 

Although the state of the Christian world was thus favour¬ 
able to the spread of the Mahometan imposture, this is by no 
means sufficient to account for its mighty results, tha 

and especially for its continuance, through such specia i prov p 
a lapse of time. We are forced, therefore, to denceofGod. 
look for a more adequate cause, and that cause 
can be nothing less than the special providence of God. In¬ 
deed, the appearance of the Arabian prophet in the world, 
and the rise, progress, and results of his imposture, are 


* Bush’s Life of Mahomet, 




100 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


clearly foretold in the sacred volume, as the 
The rise and reader may see, Daniel vii. 8—26. Revelation ix. 
progress of 1—19. All the reasons which the Infinite 

Mahometan- Mind may have had in permitting this arch- 

irTthe ^crip- beres y to find a dwelling place on earth—to 
tures. " spread its branches so widety—to take such deep 
root—to bear such deadly fruit for so long a 
period—all the moral ends in view may be unknown; but 
the wisdom of God in this as well as every other dispensation 
of his providence, will ultimately stand forth as clearly as if 
the sun beams shone upon it, and the now inscrutable mys¬ 
tery will be justified by all his children. 

We shall conclude these introductory remarks with the fol¬ 
lowing quotation from Dr. Prideaux, on the moral ends of 
Providence, in suffering this desolating scourge 
The moral 1 0 arise at that particular period of the world, 

cmTlin- to Dr* whicb & ave ^ birth - “ At length,” says he, 
Prideaux. “ having wearied the patience and long suffer¬ 
ing of God, he raised up the Saracens to be the 
instruments of his wrath to punish them for it; who, taking 
advantage of the weakness of their power, and the distraction 
of counsels which their divisions had caused among them, 
overran, with a terrible devastation, all the eastern provinces 
of the Roman empire. And having fixed that tyranny over 
them which hath ever since afflicted those parts of the world, 
turned every where their churches into mosques, and their 
worship into a horrid superstition ; and instead of that holy 
religion which they had abused, forced on them the abomina¬ 
ble imposture of Mahomet. Thus those once glorious and 
most flourishing churches, for a punishment of their wicked¬ 
ness, being given up to the insult, ravage, and scorn of the 
worst of enemies, were on a sudden overwhelmed with so ter¬ 
rible a destruction as hath reduced them to that low and mi¬ 
serable condition under which they have ever since groaned; 
the all-wise providence of God seeming to continue them 
thus unto this day under the pride and persecution of Maho¬ 
metan tyranny, for no other end but to be an example and 
warning unto others against the wickedness of separation 
and division.” 

Mahomet, the founder of the Moslem* or Mahometan reli- 

* The following list of names and titles, some of which it will be con¬ 
venient for us to use in the present article, and all of which frequently 
occur in accounts relating to the East, together with their etymological 
import, is taken from a highly celebrated work, “ Bush’s Life of Ma¬ 
homet.” 



LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


101 


gion, was born &t Mecca, a city of Arabia, A. D. 569, or, ac¬ 
cording to others, A. D. 571. His parents were Birth of Ma- 
themselves poor, but his connexions were rich hornet, A. D- 
and respectable, belonging to the tribe of the Ko- 569< 
reish, reckoned the most noble in all that part of Arabia. 


From Hamad; praised, highly 
glorious. 


celebrated, illustrious, 


All from the same root, Aslam; signifying to yield up, 
dedicate, consecrate entirely to the service of religion. 


Mahomet, 

Mohammed, 

Ahmed. 

Moslem, 

Mussulman, 

Islam, 

Islamism. 

Koran. —From Kara, to read ; the reading, legend, or that which 
ought to be read. 

Caliph. —A successor; from the Hebrew Chalaph; to be changed, ta 
succeed, to pass round in a revolution. 

Sultan — Originally from the Chaldaic Soltan ; signifyin g authority, 
dominion, principality. „ 

Vizier. —An assistant. 

Hadj. — Pilgrimage ; Hadji ; one who makes the pilgrimage to Mecca. 
Saracen. —Etymology doubtful; supposed to be from Sarak, to steal; 
a plunderer, a robber. 

Hejira, 
or 


He jr a 
Mufti 


: 


The Flight ; applied emphatically to Mahomet’s flight from 
Mecca to Medina. 


The principal head of the Mahometan religion, and the re¬ 
solver of all doubtful points of the law.—An office of great dig¬ 
nity in the Turkish empire. 

Imam. —A kind of priest attached to the mosques, whose duty it is oc¬ 
casionally to expound a passage of the Koran. They, at the 
same time, usually follow some more lucrative employment. 

Moollah. —The Moollahs form what is called the Ulema, or body of 
doctors, in theology and jurisprudence, who are entrusted with 
the guardianship of the laws of the empire, and from whose 
number the Mufti is chosen. 

Emir.— Lineal descendants of the Prophet himself, distinguished bv 
wearing turbans of deep sea-green, the colour peculiar to ail 
the race of Mahomet. They have special immunities on the 
score of their descent, and one of them carries the green standard 
of the Prophet when the Grand Seignior appears in any public 
solemnity. 

Pasha. —The title given to the provincial governors. A Pasha is to 
a province or pashalic, what the Sultan is to the empire, except 
that the judicial power is in the hands of the cadis, the provin¬ 
cial magistrates. The tails of a Pasha are the standards 
which he is allowed to carry; one of three tails is one of three 
standards, which number gives the power of life and death. 

Reis Effendi. —This officer may be termed the High Chancellor of 
the Ottoman empire. He is at the head of a class of attorneys 
which at this time contains the best informed men of the nation. 

Seraglio. —This word is derived fron Serai, a term of Persian origin, 
signifying a palace. It is therefore improperly used as synony¬ 
mous with Harem , the apartments of the women. The Seraglio 
is, in strictness of speech, the place where the court of the Grand 


102 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


“ The Moslem writers,” says the author already quoted, “in 
order to represent the birth of their pretended prophet as 
Prodigies said equally marvellous with that of Moses or of 
to have attend- Christ, the ancient messengers of God who pre- 
ed this event. cec [ed him, have reported a tissue of astonishing 
prodigies said to have occurred in connexion with that event. 
If the reader will receive their statements with the same im¬ 
plicit faith with which they seem to be delivered, he must 
acknowledge, that at the moment when the favoured infant 
was ushered into the world, a flood of light burst forth with 
him and illuminated every part of Syria; that the waters of 
the Lake Sawa were entirely dried up, so that a city was 
built upon its bottom; that an earthquake threw down four¬ 
teen towers of the king of Persia’s palace ; that the sacred fire 
of the Persians was extinguished, and all the evil spirits which 
had inhabited the moon and stars were expelled together from 
their celestial abodes, nor could they ever after animate idols 
or deliver oracles on earth. The child also, if we may trust 
to the same authorities, discovered the most wonderful presa¬ 
ges. He was no sooner born than he fell prostrate, in a pos¬ 
ture of humble adoration, praying devoutly to his Creator, and 
saying, ‘ God is great! There is no God but God, and I am 
his prophet!’ By these and many other supernatural signs, 
equally astounding, is the prophet’s nativity said to have been 
marked.” 

At the early age of two years, Mahomet lost his father, and 
four years after his mother. Being now a dependant orphan, 
Mahomet giv- he was received into the family of his grandfather, 
en in charge under whose guardianship he continued two 
to his uncle, years, when the venerable Abdol Motalleb him¬ 
self was called to give up the ghost. On his dying bed, he 
summoned Abu Taleb, the eldest of his sons, whom he is said 

Seignior is held ; but it so happens that at Constantinople this 
building includes the imperial Harem A^ithin its walls. 

Crescent.— The national ensign of the Turks, surmounting the domes 
and minarets attached to their mosques, as the Cross does the 
churches of the Roman Catholics in Christian countries. This 
peculiar and universal use of the Crescent is said to have owed its 
origin to the fact, that at the time of Mahomet’s flight from 
Mecca to Medina the moon was new. Hence the half moon is 
commemorative of that event. 

Sublime Porte. —This title, which is frequently applied to the court, 
cabinet, or executive department of the Ottoman empire, is de- 
rived, as the words import, from a lofty arched gateway of 
splendid construction, forming the principal entrance to the Se¬ 
raglio or palace. It is a phrase equivalent to “Court of St. 
James,” “Court of St. Cloud,” &c. 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


103 


to have addressed as follows : “ My dearest, best beloved son, 
to thy charge I leave Mahomet, the son of thine own brother, 
strictly recommended, whose natural father the Lord hath been 
pleased to take to himself, with the intent that this dear child 
should become ours by adoption; and much dearer ought he 
to be unto us than merely an adopted son. Receive him, 
therefore, at my dying hands, with the same sincere love and 
tender bowels with which I deliver him to thy care. Honour, 
love, and cherish him as much, or even more, than if he had 
sprung from thine own loins; for all the honour thou showest 
unto him shall be trebled unto thee. Be more than ordina¬ 
rily careful in thy treatment towards him, for it will be repaid 
thee with interest. Give him the preference before thine own 
children, for he exceedeth them and all mankind in excellency 
and perfection. Take notice, that whensoever he calleth upon 
thee, thou answer him not as an infant, as his tender age may 
require, but as thou wouldst reply to the most aged and vene¬ 
rable person when he asketh thee any question. Sit not down 
to thy repasts of any sort soever, either alone or in company, 
till thy worthy nephew Mahomet is seated at the table before 
thee; neither do thou ever offer to taste of any kind of viands, 
or even to stretch forth thine hand towards the same, until he 
hath tasted thereof. If thou observest these my injunctions, 
thy goods shall always increase, and in nowise be dimi¬ 
nished.”* 

Abu Taleb having received the above solemn charge, took 
the young prophet under his care, and instructed him in the 

business of a merchant. When he was about Educated as 
twelve or thirteen years of age, in order to per- a me rehant. 
feet him in his employment, Abu Taleb took him 
with him into Syria, whither he found himself obliged to go on 
commercial affairs. Arriving at Bosra, an ancient city of 
Syria Damacena, he visited a monastery, where he found a 
Nestorian monk, named Felix, and surnamed Boheira, who 
treated them with great marks of distinction, and owned him 
as God’s apostle. Another monk, called by the Christians, 
Sergius, entered into a confederacy with Boheira to propa¬ 
gate the new fanaticism, and lent a helping hand in composing 
The Koran. On Mahomet’s first approach to Boheira, the 
monk observed, or said he observed, a sort of luminous or 
transparent cloud round his head, which preserved him from 
the heat of the solar rays ; also, that the dry trees under which 
he sat were every where instantly covered with green leaves, 


♦ Morgan’s Mahometanism Explained, vol. i. p. 50. 


104 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


which served him for a shade—all certain signs that the pro 
phetic dignity resided in him. He likewise discovered the 
seal of prophecy impressed between his shoulders, whilst he 
kissed the hinder part of his garment. Turning one day to 
the uncle, Abu Taleb, he said, “ Depart with this child, and 
take great care that he does not fall into the hands of the 
Jews; for your nephew will one day become a very extraor¬ 
dinary person; he will perform great things by the appoint¬ 
ment of God.” Abu Taleb hereupon immediately returned 
to Mecca, and gave an account to the Koreish of the discove¬ 
ries that had been made. 

In the mean time, Mahomet, as he advanced towards the 
years of puberty, grew extremely popular. He was the most 
handsome and the best made man of all the Arabs of his 
time; and he was not only famed for his beauty, but he like¬ 
wise surpassed all his contemporaries in sagacity and good 
sense, so much so, indeed, as to acquire the name of Al-Amin, 
or the Faithful. This is the favourable portrait given us of 
him, at the age of fourteen, by some of the Moslem historians. 

Mahomet made his first campaign when he was about 
twenty years of age, under his uncle Abu Taleb, who com¬ 
manded the Koreish against the tribes Kenan and Hawazan. 
Of the cause of this war no traditionary account is on record; 
but, as it was carried on with great violence through the 
course of the four sacred months, it was termed the “ impious 
war.” During these months it was held unlawful to wage 
war; the Arabs then taking off the heads of their spears, 
and ceasing from incursions and other hostilities. However, 
the Koreish were victorious in this war, which could not fail 
of rendering the people of their tribe still more devoted to 
Abu Taleb and the young Mahomet. 

Mahomet continued in the employment of his uncle until 
he had attained his twenty-fifth year. About that time died 

Enters the one the chief men of the city, leaving a widow 
service of Ca- of the name of Cadijah; who, requiring a fac* 
dijah, whom tor to manage her stock, Mahomet entered 
he marries. her sen q ce? anc j traded for her some years, 
to Damascus and other places. In this service Mahomet 
conducted himself with so much propriety, that he not only 
merited the respect, but actually won the affections of his 
mistress, who was twelve years older than himself, he 
being then only twenty-eight years of age. Cadijah having 
married him, he became suddenly exalted to an equality with 
some of the richest men of the city. 

Whether this unlooked for elevation had inspired Mahomet 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


105 

with an extraordinary ambition, or whatever other motive 
prompted him, he soon began to manifest symptoms of wish¬ 
ing to appear a man of no common character, and as one 
divinely commissioned to reform the world by the introduc¬ 
tion of a new system of religion, which should embrace 
whatever was excellent in the Pagan morality, and the Jewish 
and Christian dispensations. His commercial transactions in 
Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, having brought him acquainted 
with the numerous Christians and Jews residing in those 
countries, he soon discovered that the task of creating a new 
religion would not be very difficult. He proceeded, how¬ 
ever, with much caution and care; and it was not till he had 
attained his thirty-eighth year, that he retired R et j res t0 
from the business of the world, repairing daily to the cave of He- 
a certain cave in the vicinity of Mecca, called ra, where he 
the cave of Plera, for the ostensible purpose of 1T |^ U ^ S _ llls 
spending his time in fasting, prayer, and medi- P an > • • 
tation. 

Having, at length, matured his plan, he opened the subject 
of the supernatural visions, with which he had been favoured 
in the cave, to his wife Cadijah. At first she Discloses it 
treated his visions as the dreams of a disturbed to Cadijah 
imagination, or as the delusions of the devil. Ma- who becomes 
hornet, however, persisted in assuring her of the 11!> come,t ' 
reality of these communications, and rising still higher in his 
demands upon her credulity, at length repeated a passage 
which he affirmed to be a part of a divine revelation, recently 
conveyed to him by the ministry of the angel Gabriel. The 
memorable night on which this visit was made by the hea¬ 
venly messenger is called the “ night of Al Kadr,” or the 
night of the divine decree , and is greatly celebrated, as it was 
the same night on which the entire Koran descended from 
the seventh to the lowest heaven, to be thence revealed by Ga¬ 
briel in successive portions as occasion might require. The 
Koran has a whole chapter devoted to the commemoration 
of this event, entitled Al Kadr. It is as follows: “ In the 
name of the most merciful God. Verily, we sent down the 
Koran in the night of Al Kadr. And what shall make thee 
understand how excellent the night of Al Kadr is? This night 
is better than a thousand months. Therein do the angels de¬ 
scend, and the spirit Gabriel also, by the permission of their 
Lord, with his decrees concerning every matter. It is peace 
until the rising of the morn.”* On this favoured night, be- 


♦ Koran, ch. xcvii. 


106 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


tween the 23d and 24th of Ramadan , according to the pro¬ 
phet, the angel appeared to him, in glorious form, to commu¬ 
nicate the happy tidings of his mission. The light issuing 
from his body, if the apostle-elect may be believed, was too 
dazzling for mortal eyes to behold; he fainted under the splen¬ 
dour ; nor was it till Gabriel had assumed a human form, that 
he could venture to approach or look upon him. The angel 
then cried aloud, “ O, Mahomet, thou art the apostle 
of God, and I am the angel Gaeiiiel !” “Read!” con¬ 
tinued the angel; the prophet declared that he was unable to 
read. “ Read !” Gabriel again exclaimed, “ read, in the name 
of thy Lord, who hath created all things; who hath created 
man of congealed blood. Read, by thy most beneficent Lord, 
who hath taught the use of the pen ; who teacheth man that 
which he knoweth not .”* The prophet, who professed hither¬ 
to to have been illiterate, then read the joyful tidings respect¬ 
ing his ministry on earth, when the angel, having accom¬ 
plished his mission, majestically ascended to heaven, and dis¬ 
appeared from his view. When the story of this surprising 
interview with a celestial visitant was related to Cadijah in 
connexion with the passage repeated, her unbelief, as tradition 
avers, was wholly overcome, and not only so, but she was 
wrought by it into a kind of ecstasy, declaring, “ By him in 
whose hands her soul was, that she trusted her husband would 
indeed one day become the prophet of his nation.” In the 
height of her joy, she immediately imparted what she had heard 
to one Waraka, her cousin, who is supposed by some to have 
been in the secret, and who, being a Christian, had learned 
to write in the Hebrew character, and was tolerably well ver¬ 
sed in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures. He unhesitatingly 
assented to her opinion respecting the divine designation of 
her husband, and even affirmed, that Mahomet was no other 
than the great prophet foretold by Moses, the son of Amram. 
This belief that both the prophet and his spurious religion 
were subjects of inspired prediction in the Old Testament 
scriptures, is studiously inculcated in the Koran. “ Thy Lord 
is the mighty, the merciful. This book is certainly a revela¬ 
tion from the Lord of all creatures, which the faithful spirit 
(Gabriel) hath caused to descend upon thy heart, that thou 
mightest be a preacher to thy people in the perspicuous A ra- 
bic tongue; and it is borne witness to in the scriptures of ior- 
mer ages. Was it not a sign unto them that the wise men 
among the children of Israel knew it ?”f 


* Koran, eh. xcviii. 


t Ch. xxiii. 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


107 


Having made a convert of his wife, his next object was to 
gain other proselytes. Among the first, who Gains other 
gave in his adhesion to the prophet, was his ser- proselytes; but 
vant Zeid Ebn Hareth,whom he rewarded for his at first with 
belief and attachment, by granting him his free- difficulty- 
dom. Ali, the son of Abu Taleb, Mahomet’s cousin, was his 
next convert, but the impetuous youth, disregarding the other 
two as persons of comparatively little note, used to style him¬ 
self the first of believers. His fourth and most important con¬ 
vert was Abubeker, a powerful citizen of Mecca, by whose 
influence a number of persons possessed of rank and authori¬ 
ty were induced to profess the religion of Islam. These were 
Othman, Zobair, Saad, Abdorrahman, and Abu Obeidah, who 
afterwards became the principal leaders in his armies, and his 
main instruments in the establishment both of his imposture 
and of his empire. Four years were spent in the arduous task 
of winning over these nine individuals to the faith, some of 
whom were the principal men of the city, and who composed 
the whole party of his proselytes previously to his beginning 
to proclaim his mission in public. Fie was now forty-four 
years of age. - 

Hitherto the efforts of Mahomet had been confined to the 
conversion of a few individuals; but now the time having 
come for spreading his doctrines abroad, he di- p roe j a j ms p; g 
rected Ali to prepare a generous entertainment, doctrines to his 
to which the sons and descendants of Abdol Mo- family, friends, 
talleb were invited. These having assembled, and connex- 
the prophet arose and addressed them as fol- J£em ^rTton- 
lows :—“ I know no man in the whole peninsu- dicule. 
la of the Arabs who can propose any thing more 
excellent to his relations than what I now do to you ; I offer you 
happiness both in this life and in that which is to come ; God 
Almighty hath commanded me to call you unto him; who 
therefore among you will be my vizier (assistant) and will be¬ 
come my brother and vicegerent?” General astonishment 
kept the assembly silent; none offered to accept the proffered 
1 office, till the fiery Ali burst forth, and declared that he would 
be the brother and assistant of the prophet. “ I,” said he, “ O 
prophet of God, will be thy vizier; I myself will beat out the 
teeth, pull out the eyes, rip open the bellies, and cut off the legs, 
of all those who shall dare to oppose thee.” The prophet 
; caught the young proselyte in his arms, exclaiming, “ This 
is my brother, my deputy, my successor; show yourselves 
obedient unto him.” At this apparently extravagant com¬ 
mand, the whole company burst into laughter, telling Abu 




103 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


Taleb that he must now pay obedience and submission to his 
own son ! As words were multiplied, surprise began to give 
way to indignation, the serious pretensions of the prophet were 
seriously resented, and in the issue the assembly broke up in 
confusion, affording the ardent apostle but slender prospects 
of success among his kinsmen. 

Notwithstanding his above ill success with his tribe, he was 
so far from being discouraged, that he continued to preach to 

Preaches in P e0 P^ e » w ho still heard him with some pa- 
public to the tience, till he came to upbraid them with the 
citizens of idolatry, obstinacy, and perverseness, not only 
Mecca. 0 f themselves, but of their fathers. This so 

highly provoked them, that they openly declared themselves 
his enemies, some few only excepted, who were converted to 
Mahometanism. Nor could he have escaped their resentment, 
had he not been protected by Abu Taleb, his uncle, who was 
very active in his favour. However, the chief of the Koreish, 
and even many of his own relations, warmly solicited him to 
desert his nephew; but all their endeavours proving ineffectual, 
they at length threatened Abu Taleb with an open rupture, if 
he did not prevail on Mahomet to desist. Abu Taleb was so 
far moved at this threat, that he earnestly dissuaded his ne¬ 
phew from pursuing the affair any further; representing the 
great danger he and his friends must otherwise run; but Ma¬ 
homet. was not to be intimidated, telling his uncle plainly, 
" that if they set the sun against him on his right hand, and 
the moon on his left, he would not relinquish his enterprise.” 
Abu Taleb, therefore, finding him so firmly resolved to pro¬ 
ceed, used no further arguments, but promised to stand by 
him against all his enemies: so that notwithstanding the peo¬ 
ple of his tribe came to a determination to expel both him and 
his followers, he found a powerful support in his uncle against 
all their machinations. 

In the eighth year of his pretended mission, his party 
growing formidable at Mecca, the city passed a decree, by 
Is obliged tore- which they forbade any more to join themselves 
tire from Mec- with him. This, however, did not much affect 
ca; but returns, him, while his uncle Abu Taleb lived to protect 
him: but he dying two years after, and the government of 
the city then falling into the hands of his enemies, a fresh 
opposition was renewed against him, and a stop soon put 
to the further progress of his designs at Mecca. Maho¬ 
met, therefore, seeing all his hopes in a manner crushed 
here, began to thing of settling elsewhere; and as his uncle 
Abbas lived for the most part at Tayif, a town sixty miles dis- 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


100 


tant from Mecca, towards the east, and was a man of power 
and interest, he took a journey thither, under his protection, 
in order to propagate his imposture there. But, after a month’s 
stay, finding himself unable to gain even one proselyte, he 
retired to Mecca, with a. resolution to wait for such further 
advantages as time and opportunity might offer. His wife 
Cadijah being now dead, after living with him two and twenty 
years, he took two other wives in her stead, Ayesha, the 
daughter of Abubeker, and Lewda, the daughter of Zaraa; 
adding a while after to them a third, named Haphsa, the 
daughter of Omar; and by thus making himself son-in-law 
to three of the principal men of his party, he strengthened 
his interest considerably. Ayesha is said to have been then 
only six years old ; on which account the completion of that 
marriage was deferred, though not for many years, the eastern 
women being very early marriageable. 

In the twelfth year of his mission is placed the mesra, that 
is, his famous night-journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, and 
thence to heaven; of which he tells us, in the Makes a fa- 
seventeenth chapter of the Koran: for the peo- mous night, 
pie calling on him for miracles to prove his mis- j om ' ne y J rom 

Jr # o # a t Mecca to J eru** 

sion, and finding himself unable, or being un- sa i em - m com _ 
willing, to feign any, to solve the matter, he pany with the 
invented this story of his journey to heaven, angel Gabriel, 
The story, as related in the Koran, and believed , on . Vn east r Gal " 
by the Mahometants, is this : At night, as he lay 
in his bed with his best beloved wife Ayesha, he heard a 
knocking at his door; upon which, arising, he found there the 
angel Gabriel, with seventy pair of wings, expanded from his 
sides, whiter than snow, and clearer than crystal, and the beast 
Alborak standing by him; which, they say, is the beast on 
which the prophets used to ride, when they were carried from 
one place to another, upon the execution of anjr divine com¬ 
mand. Mahomet describes it to be a beast as white as milk, 
and of a mixed nature, between an ass and a mule, and also of 
a size between both ; but of such extraordinary swiftness as to 

j v 

equal even lightning itself. 

As soon as Mahomet appeared at the door, the angel Gabriel 
kindly embraced him, saluted him in the name of God, and 
told him, that he was sent to bring him unto God into heaven; 
where he should see strange mysteries, which were not lawful 
to be seen by any other man. He prayed him then to get 
upon Alborak; but the beast having lain idle and unemployed 
from the time of Christ to Mahomet, was grown so mettle¬ 
some and skittish, that he would not stand still for Mahomet 
10 





no 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


to mount him, till at length he was forced to bribe him to it, 
by promising him a place in Paradise. When he was firmly 
seated, on him, the angel Gabriel led the way with the bridle 
of the beast in his hand, and carried the prophet from Mecca 
to Jerusalem in the twinkling of an eye. On his coming 
thither, all the departed prophets and saints appeared at the 
gate of the temple to salute him; and thence attending him 
into the chief oratory, desired him to pray for them, and then 
withdrew. After this, Mahomet went out of the temple with 
the angel Gabriel, and found a ladder of light ready fixed for 
them, which they immediately ascended, leaving Alborak tied 
to a rock till their return. 

On their arrival at the first heaven, the angel knocked at 
the gate; and informing the porter who he was, and that he 
had brought Mahomet, the friend of God, he was immediately 
admitted. This first heaven, he tells us, was all of pure sil¬ 
ver ; from whence he saw the stars hanging from it by chains 
of gold, each as big as mount Nolio, near Mecca, in Arabia. 
On his entrance he met a decrepid old man, who it seems was 
our first father Adam; and, as he advanced, he saw a multi¬ 
tude of angels in all manner of shapes; in the shape of birds, 
beasts, and men. We must not forget to observe, that Adam 
had the piety immediately to embrace the prophet, giving God 
thanks for so great a son ; and then recommended himself to 
his prayers. From this first heaven, he tells us, that he as¬ 
cended into the second, which was at the distance of five hun¬ 
dred years’ journey above it: and this he makes to be the 
distance of every one of the seven heavens, each above the 
other. Here the gates being opened to him as before, at his 
entrance he met Noah, who, rejoicing much at the sight of 
him, recommended himself to his prayers. This heaven was 
all of pure gold, and there were twice as many angels in it 
as in the former ; for he tells us that the number of angels in 
every heaven increased as he advanced. From this second 
heaven he ascended into the third, which was made of precious 
stones, where he met Abraham, who also recommended him¬ 
self to his prayers; Joseph, the son of Jacob, did the same in 
the fourth heaven, which was all of emerald; Moses in the 
fifth, which was all of adamant; and John the Baptist in the 
sixth, which was all of carbuncle: whence he ascended into 
the seventh, which was all of divine light, and here he found 
Jesus Christ. However, it is observed, that here he alters his 
style; for he does not say that Jesus Christ recommended 
himself to his prayers, but that he recommended himself to 
the prayers of Jesus Christ. 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


Ill 


The angel Gabriel, having brought him thus fhr, told him 
that he was not permitted to attend him any farther: and 
therefore directed him to ascend the rest of the way to the 
throne of God by himself. This he performed with great 
difficulty, passing through rough and dangerous places, till he 
came where he heard a voice, saying unto him, “ O Mahomet, 
salute thy Creator whence ascending higher, he came into 
a place where he saw a vast expansion of light, so exceed¬ 
ingly bright, that his eyes could not bear it. This, it seems, 
was the habitation of the Almighty, where his throne was 
placed; on the right side of which, he says, God’s name and 
nis own were written in these Arabic words: “ La ellah ellal- 
lah Mahomet reful ollahthat is, “ There is no God but 
God, and Mahomet is his prophet,” which is at this day 
the creed of the Mahometans. Being approached to the di¬ 
vine presence, he tells us, that God entered into a familiar 
converse with him, revealed to him many hidden mysteries, 
made him understand the whole of his law, gave him many 
things in charge concerning his instructing men in the know¬ 
ledge of it; and, in conclusion, bestowed on him several pri¬ 
vileges above the rest of mankind. He then returned, and 
found the angel Gabriel waiting for him in the place where 
he left him. The angel led him back along the seven hea¬ 
vens, through wdrich he had brought him; and set him again 
upon the beast Alborak, which stood tied to the rock near Je¬ 
rusalem. Then he conducted him back to Mecca, in the 
same manner as he brought him thence ; and all this within 
the space of the tenth part of one night. 

On his relating this story to the people the next morning 
after he pretended the thing to have happened, it was received 
by them with a general outcry ; and the impos- The story 
ture w’as never in a greater danger of being to- not credited by 
tally blasted, than by this ridiculous fable. But, the ^prophets’ 
how ridiculous soever the story may appear, religion 1 in 
Mahomet had a further design in it, than barely danger, 
telling such a miraculous adventure of himself to the people. 
Hitherto he had only given them the Koran, which was his 
written law; and had pretended to be nothing more than bare¬ 
ly the messenger of God, in publishing it, as it was delivered 
to him by the angel Gabriel. But now, learning from his 
friend Abdallah, that the Jews, besides the written law dictated 
by God himself! had also another law, called the oral law, 
given with it, as they pretend, to Moses himself, while in the 
mount; and understanding that this law, which had its whole 
foundation in the sayings and dictates of Moses, was in as 


112 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


great veneration with them as the other ; he had a mind for 
the future to advance his authority to the same pitch, and to 
make all his sayings and dictates pass for oracles among the 
Mussulmen, as those which were pretended to proceed from 
Moses did among the Jews; and for this end chiefly it was, 
that he invented this story’ of his journey to heaven. 

The story, however, whatever advantages he might and did 
gain by it when his religion became more firmly established, 
was deemed at first so grossly ridiculous, that it 
Medhr CS l ° occas ^ one( ^ ^ ie revolt of many of his disciples, 
and made his stay at Mecca no longer practica¬ 
ble. But what he lost at Mecca he gained at Medina, then 
called Yathreb, a city lying 270 miles north-west from Mec¬ 
ca : which was inhabited, the one part by Jews, and the other 
by heretical Christians. These two parties did not agree at 
all; and feuds and factions rose at length so high among 
them, that one party, exasperated against the other, went over 
to Mahomet. Thus we are told, that in the thirteenth year of 
his mission, there came to him from thence seventy-three men 
and two women. Twelve of these he retained awhile with 
him at Mecca, to instruct them in his new religion ; then sent 
them back to Yathreb, as his twelve apostles, there to propa¬ 
gate it in that town. In this they laboured abundantly, and 
with such success, that, in a short time, they drew over the 
greatest part of the inhabitants ; of which Mahomet receiving 
an account, resolved to go thither immediately, finding it un¬ 
safe to continue any longer at Mecca. 

On the 12th day of the month which the Arabs call the 
Former Rabia, that is, on the 24th of our September, he came 
The Hejira to Yathreb, and was received with great acclama- 
or Era of tions by the party which called him thither. He 
height, A. D. p rst lodged in the house of Chalid Abu Job, one 
of the chief men of the party, till he had built 
a house for himself. This he immediately undertook, and 
erected a mosque at the same time for the exercise of his re¬ 
ligion ; and having thus settled himself in this town, he con¬ 
tinued there ever after, to the time of his death. From this 
flight of Mahomet, the Hejira, which is the asra of the Ma¬ 
hometans, begins its computation: Hejira, in the Arabic lan¬ 
guage, signifying flight. It was first appointed by Omar, the 
third emperor of the Saracens, and takes its beginning from 
the 16th of July, in the year 622. Indeed the day that Ma¬ 
homet left Mecca was on the first of the Former Rabia ; and 
he came to Medina on the 12th of the same month, that is, on 
the 24th of our September; but the Hejira begins two months 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


113 


before, from the first of Moharram: for that being the first 
month of the Arabian year, Omar would make no alteration 
as to that, but anticipated the computation fifty-nine days, that 
he might commence his sera from the beginning of that year, 
in which the flight of the impostor happened, from which it 
took its name.* 

From the time Mahomet entered Medina, he found himself 
in reality a monarch, at the head of an army devoted to his 
person, obedient to his will, and blind believers 
in his holy office. Finding himself-in a condi- , Battle of Le- 
tion not only to defend himself against the insults 
of his enemies, but even to attack them, he began to send out 
parties to make reprisals on the Koreish. One of these, con¬ 
sisting of no more than nine men, intercepted and plundered a 
caravan belonging to that tribe. This small advantage ani¬ 
mated the Moslems, and induced the Prophet to think he 
should gain as much reputation by his arms as by his revela¬ 
tions ; hut what mostly established his affairs at this juncture, 
and was the foundation on which he built all his succeeding 
greatness, was the gaining of the battle of Beder, a well on 
the confines of Arabia, wdiich was fought in the second year 
of the Hejira, and is so famous in the Mahometan history. 
This victory was an invincible proof to the Arabians of the 
truth of Mahometanism. Having been informed by his spies, 
that the Koreish had a large quantity of valuable merchandise, 
carried on the backs of 1000 camels, coming from Syria, and 
escorted only by thirty or forty men, he resolved to advance at 
the head of a small detachment of his troops, to intercept it. 
But Abu Sofian, the conductor of the caravan, having notice 
of his designs and motions, immediately despatched a courier 
to Mecca, requesting his countrymen to send him speedy suc¬ 
cours, upon which all the principal men of the city marched 
to defend the caravan with a body of 950 men. Mahomet had 
no sooner received advice of this, than he drew together all 
his forces, which amounted to no more than 313 men, with 
which he advanced against the enemy. In the mean time, he 
took care to leave a proper garrison in Medina, to defend it in 
case of any disaster. Before the beginning of the battle, 
feigning himself in a trance, he pretended that God had pro¬ 
mised him certain victory. After which, throwing a handful 
of dust towards the enemy, he said, May the faces of them be 
confounded ! and then, exhorting his men to behave valiantly, 
he commanded them to fall upon the Koreish. They charged 

* Nightingale’s “ All Religions.” 

10* 





114 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


them with such bravery, that they soon put them to flight, 
having killed seventy of the principal of them on the spot, and 
taken as many prisoners, with the loss of only fourteen men. 
In imitation of Moses, Mahomet sat in a tent, and prayed for 
those that fought, for Gabriel would not permit him to engage. 
The Prophet pretends in the Koran, that not he, but God, by 
the ministry of his angel, threw the gravel towards the unbe¬ 
lievers ; that the Moslem troops seemed to the infidels to be 
twice as numerous as themselves, which greatly discouraged 
them; and that God had sent down to their assistance first 
1000, and afterwards 3000 angels, led by Gabriel, mounted on 
his horse Ilaizum; and, according to the Koran, these celes¬ 
tial auxiliaries did all the execution, though Mahomet’s troops 
could not perceive them. The battle was fought on a Friday, 
and on the 17th of the month Ramadan. 

At the commencement of the second year of the Hejira, 
Mahomet altered the Kebla for his disciples, or the part of the 
world to which the Mahometans are to turn 

ters the Kebla" ^ ie ^ r faces in prayer. At first, Mahomet declared 
it to be perfectly indifferent; afterwards, when he 
fled to Medina, he directed his followers to turn towards the 
temple of Jerusalem, (probably, to ingratiate himself with the 
Jews,) which continued to be their Kebla , for seventeen or 
eighteen months; but, either finding the Jews too intractable, 
or despairing otherwise to gain the Pagan Arabs, who could 
not forget their respect to the temple of Mecca, he ordered that 
prayers, for the future, should be towards the east; that is, to¬ 
wards the Caaba, or temple of Mecca. This change occa¬ 
sioned many to fall from him, taking offence at his inconstancy. 
Again, he ordered that the Faithful should be called to pray¬ 
ers with a loud voice from the top of the Mosques, whereas 
before he was, out of policy, inclined to the Jewish horn, and 
had actually made use of rattles, as Christians did. He like¬ 
wise ordained the grand fast of Ramadan, in which month the 
Koran came from heaven, and made several regulations about 
alms, things lawful and unlawful, policy, &c.; all which were 
either inspired ot confirmed by miracles. 

It does not belong to the plan of this work to give an ac¬ 
count of the military expeditions, by which, in successive 
years, the prophet succeeded in establishing his religion in al¬ 
most every part of his own country. One or two expeditions, 
however, are too important in the Prophet’s history to be 
passed over without notice, 

In the sixth year of the Hejira, with fourteen hundred men, 
he undertook a pilgrimage to the holy temple of Mecca. But 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


115 


the inhabitants of that city, being jealous of his Concludes a 
intentions, despatched a messenger to the Pro- treaty with the 
phet, while he halted several days at Hodeibiya, Meccans for 
saying, that if he entered the city, it must be at ten ^ ears - 
the point of the sword. Upon this, the Prophet summoned 
his men to attack the city; but, before this could be effected, 
the Meccans sent an ambassador to him to confer upon terms 
of peace. Finding it to be for their mutual advantage to enter 
into a treaty, one was formed, which stipulated that the Pro¬ 
phet and his followers should have free access to the city and 
temple, after one year, whenever they pleased, during the 
space of ten years, provided they came unarmed, as befitted 
pilgrims, and remained not more than three days at a 
time. 

During the same year the Prophet led his army against 
Chaibar, a city inhabited by Arab Jews, who offering him a 
manly resistance, he laid siege to the place and . 

carried it by storm. A great miracle is here a c j t y 0 f 
said to have been performed by Ali, surnamed Arab Jews, 
The Lion of God.” A ponderous gate, which w h ere he is 
eight men afterwards tried in vain to lift from P° lsonecl - 
the ground, was tom by him from its hinges, and used as a 
buckler during the assault! Mahomet, on entering the town, 
took up his quarters at the house of Hareth, one of the princi¬ 
pal inhabitants, and here met with a reception which eventu¬ 
ally cost him his life. Zeinab, the daughter of Hareth, while 
preparing a meal for the conqueror and his attendants, in¬ 
serted a quantity of poison into a shoulder of mutton which 
was served up at the table. Bashar, a companion of Maho¬ 
met, had scarcely began to eat of it, before he was seized with 
convulsions, and died upon the spot. Mahomet, by spitting 
out the greatest part of what he had taken into his mouth, es¬ 
caped immediate death, but the effects of the fatal drug had 
entered his system, and, resisting every effort of -medicine to 
expel or counteract it, in somewhat more than three years af¬ 
terward it brought him to his end. If, as the reporters of 
Mahomet’s miracles affirm, the shoulder of mutton informed 
the Prophet of its being poisoned, it is certain the intelligence 
came too late. The seeds of death were henceforth effectually 
sown in his'constitution; and his own decline ever after kept 
pace with his growing power. When Zeinab was asked, 
how she had dared to perpetrate a deed of such unparalleled 
enormity, she is said to have answered, “ that she was deter¬ 
mined to make trial of his powers as a Prophet: if he were a 
true Prophet,” said she, “ he would know that the meat was 





116 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


poisoned; if not, it would be a favour to the world to rid it of 
such a tyrant.” It is not agreed among the Mahometan wri¬ 
ters what was the punishment inflicted upon this second Jael, 
or whether she suffered any. Some affirm that she was par-- 
doned; others, that she was put to death.* 

In the seventh year of the Hejira, the year stipulated in 
the before-mentioned treaty, being elapsed, Mahomet and his 
followers made the Al-Kadha, or his visit of consummation 
or accomplishment , and pilgrimage of Mecca. At the dis¬ 
tance of six miles from that town, they all took an oath to per¬ 
form religiously all the ceremonies and rites prescribed in 
that visit. Being come nearer, they left their arms and bag¬ 
gage, and entered the holy city in triumph, devoutly kissed and 
embraced the black stone of the Caaba, and went seven times 
round the temple. They performed the three first rounds by 
running, jumping, and shaking their shoulders, to show their 
vigour after the fatigue of the journey; the other four, by 
walking gravely, not to over-tire themselves, and this custom 
is kept up to this day. Then prayer was proclaimed, and 
the prophet, mounted on a camel, ran seven times between 
two hills, on which were to be seen, at that time, two idols of 
the Koreish. The Mussulmen were shocked at it; but their 
1 scruples were quieted by a passage of the Koran sent from 
heaven, in which God declared that those two hills were a 
memorial of him, and that the pilgrims who should visit them 
ought not to be looked upon as guilty of any sin. This same 
custom is still in use amongst the Arabians, who pretend that 
it is as ancient as their patriarch Ishmael, and look upon it as 
part of the religious worship practised by Abraham. The 
whole concluded with a sacrifice of seventy camels, and the 
Mussulmen shaved themselves. 

The following year, Mahomet, accusing the Meccans of a 
violation of the treaty, summoned an army of ten thousand 
men, with a design to make himself master of the city. As 
he advanced towards it, he found all in consternation, increased 
his army with those who daily flocked to him; and by force, 
threats, or persuasion, he brought over to his party many 
proselytes of note, who were likely to procure the conversion 
of others. Then he attacked the Koreish, not like an apostle, 
but as a conqueror, and gave the signal, saying, “ This is a 
day of slaughter, in which, if requisite, the most sacred place 
of refuge may be violated.” His orders were obeyed; they 
entered Mecca sword in hand, and killed all the Koreishites 


* Bush’s Life of Mahomet. 


LIFE OF MAIIOMET. 


nr 


they could find ; but Mahomet pretended this barbarous exe¬ 
cution was made against his intentions. 

The apostle made his public entry next morning at sunrise, 
repeating aloud, with an affected humility, the chapter of the 
Koran called Victory , which came down from heaven at Ho- 
daiba; he went directly to the Caaba, and without alighting 
from his camel, devoutly performed the seven rounds, and 
touched the black stone with his staff; then he dismounted, 
went in, and pulled down all the statues, amongst others, that 
of Ibrahim or Abraham, in the hands of which were the 
arrows or rods used by Arabian idolaters in their divinations 
by casting lots. On entering, he often repeated the words, 
God is great , &c.; and turning to every side of the temple, he 
said prayers with various inclinations of the body, and fixed 
tire Kebla; the 360 idols which were round the Caaba, and 
that which was on the top, underwent, according to Arabian 
writers, the same fate in a wonderful manner; Mahomet only 
touched them with his cane, saying, Truth is come , lei false¬ 
hood disappear , lying is mere vanity , and down the}- fell. 
He then went in and preached in a pulpit, made for that pur¬ 
pose, which the Khalifs, who succeeded him, used likewise. 
The seven rounds were now repeated, after which he went 
to the well of Zcm-Zem , made a stop at Ibrahim’s footstep, drank 
large draughts of the sacred water, and washed himself; the 
Mussulmen then followed his example. This well had been 
long reputed to have the virtues of restoring health, of strength¬ 
ening the memory, and of blotting out sin. 

Mahorpet now made a speech to the inhabitants of Mecca, 
on the favour which God bestowed upon them, by his means, 
in freeing them from idolatry ; he also let them know that they 
were become his slaves, but he restored to them that liberty, 
which by the right of conquest they had lost. 

Many wonders and heavenly oracles are said to have ac¬ 
companied this ceremony; the apostle disposed of the several 
offices of the temple, renewed the oath to the believers, and 
they mutually took an oath to bind themselves to him. 

In the tenth year of the Hejira, Mahomet made his famous 
pilgrimage to Mecca, called the pilgrimage of Valediction . 
He was attended, on this occasion, by 90,000 . 

men, or, as some say, 114,000, or, as others will 0 f va i e ficdon. e 
have it, a still greater number. Nor is this to 
be wondered at, when it is considered that the people came in 
vast crowds from all parts of Arabia, of which he was now 
absolute master, to accompany him in this peregrination. He 
took all his wives, enclosed in their pavilions on the backs of 



118 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


camels, with him; together with an infinite number of camels, 
intended for victims, which were crowned with garlands and 
ribands.. 

It is well known, that the pilgrimage to Mecca is looked 
upon by the Mussulmen to be of such importance, that whoever 
is able to undertake it, and does not perform it once, at least, in 
his lifetime, is reputed an infidel. This custom was complied 
with long before Mahomet, and the Arabians say it is as an¬ 
cient as the patriarchial age. Mahomet had visited the Caaba 
twice before, as we have related, but in this year he vowed 
and performed it in a most magnificent manner. During the 
journey he often said prayers with the usual reverences. He 
entered the holy city at the same place as when he took it, 
and the religious ceremonies were the same, in respect to go¬ 
ing seven times round the Caaba and kissing the black stone 
twice. From a neighbouring hill he now pronounced this 
form of the profession of the unity of God:— God is great; 
there is no God but he only; he has no companion; the power 
of governing belongs to him ; praise be given to him alone ; 
he is powerful above all; he only is strong. The sun being 
nearly setting, he instructed the people, and taught them the 
rites to be observed in the pilgrimage, and stood till the close 
of the day. He then said vespers, or evening prayers, lay on 
the ground, slept till the break of day, and said morning 
prayers a few minutes before the rising of the sun. He now 
ran through the valley of Mohasser to that of Mina, in which 
are pebble stones ; he took up seven of them, and threw them 
one by one against Satan, repeating each time the said form 
of unity. At the place of sacrifice he made a discourse, to 
let the people know the ceremonies of it. He then killed with 
his own hands, and offered sixty-three camels; that is, as many 
as he was years old. Ali killed thirty-seven to make up the 
hundred. Then these words, which are the ratification of the 
Koran, were heard from heaven:— Wo be this day to those 
who have denied your religion. I have this day brought it to 
its perfection , and have fulfilled my grace upon you. It is my 
good will and pleasure, that Islamism be henceforth your re¬ 
ligion. The Mussulmen doctors say, that the word religion 
comprehends all the decisions, statutes, and precepts of the 
law; and that, since that time, no positive nor negative com¬ 
mand has come down from heaven. This being completed, 
Mahomet shaved his head, the right side first, then the left, 
threw away the hair, of which Khaled, one of his officers, 
tied part to his turban, and was powerfully helped by this 
precious relic in all the battles in which he was afterwards 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


119 


engaged. The whole concluded with a holy repast, in which 
they ate what remained of the sacrificed camels; the prophet 
then said a prayer, drank some Zem-Zem water, and once 
more made the seven rounds. Within a mile of Mecca is 
mount Araa, a place much respected by the Mussulmen; be¬ 
cause, according to their tradition, Adam and Eve, after their 
sin, were condemned to a separation for one hundred and 
twenty years, which having expired, they met by God’s ap¬ 
pointment on the top of this hill, and complied with the so 
long interrupted conjugal duty. In memory of which, the 
place is dedicated to penance and retirement; of both which 
duties Mahomet acquitted himself, prayed for his own sins, 
and for those of his followers, and recommended the same acts 
of devotion in the Koran. 

We are now come to the last period of Mahomet’s life ; the 
last embassy he received was from the Arabians of Yemen, in 
the month of Moharram, the eleventh year of the Hejira; and 
the last expedition which he ordered, was in the following month 
of Safar. Two days after he fell into a sickness, accompanied 
by a most violent pain in the head; these were occasioned by 
the poison which he had taken, three years before, at Chaibar; 
and which poison, at certain intervals, had greatly disordered 
him, ever since the reduction of that place. Having now 
called his wives together, he entertained them, chiefly the 
most beloved of them, and his daughter Fatima, with such dis¬ 
courses as showed his fanatical enthusiasm, or which were the 
result of the senseless fancies of a brain distempered by the 
violence of the fever. But to be able to speak more sensibly 
to his followers, he ordered seven large skins, or measures 
full of cold water, to be thrown upon him, in order to recall 
his wandering spirits. Then, being carried to the mosque 
and set in the pulpit, he recited aloud the before-mentioned 
form of unity; begged God’s pardon; proffered to make a 
public reparation for all the injuries he might have done to 
any body; and actually paid to a particular person the princi¬ 
pal and interest of a small sum of money which he pretended 
was due to him; saying at the same time, It is much more 
easy to bear shame in this world than in the next. He then 
said the prayers for noon ; and likewise prayed for the dead, 
according to the agreement and communion which subsist be¬ 
tween the living and the dead. These and other "devout ac¬ 
tions he performed as long as he had any strength left. 

We shall only mention the Mahometan fables concerning 
Gabriel’s being often sent by God to inquire how the prophet 
did, his introduction of Azrael, the angel of death, to the 





120 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


apostle just before his dissolution, having first obtained his 
leave, and the pious discourses of all three. Gabriel assured 
him he could not take his life without his express permission : 
nay, he gave him, as they tell us, his option of life or death ; 
which the Moslem doctors look upon as one of the most sin¬ 
gular and illustrious prerogatives of the prophet. Whereupon 
Mahomet, continue these authors, having chosen death, and 
desired the aforesaid angel, Azrael, to execute his office, he 
was immediately thrown into agonies, that terminated with 
his life. Thus Mahomet died at noon, on a Monday, the 
twelfth of the month, called Rabbi the First, in the eleventh 
year of the Hejira; being about sixty-three years old. His¬ 
torians take notice that he was born on a Monday ; began his 
apostolical functions on a Monday; fled from Mecca on a Mon¬ 
day ; made his entry into Medina on a Monday; took Mecca 
on a Monday; and at last died on a Monday. His death was 
thought so extraordinary, that it was called an assumption. 
Some said, He is not dead, he is only taken up into heaven, 
like Jesus in an ecstacy. Others said, He is gone to his 
Lord , as Moses , who left his people for forty days ami came 
again. Their disputes ran high respecting his death; but 
Abu-Beker, who succeeded him, put an end to those quarrels 
by giving a final sentence, that Mahomet was dead, like all 
other apostles and prophets who had gone before him. This 
decision being unanimously received, his body was washed 
and perfumed, especially those parts which touched the ground 
at the adoration paid to God, viz. the feet, the hands, the knees, 
and the forehead. The ablution called Wodhu, was also per¬ 
formed on the face, the arms, the palms of the hands, and 
soles of the feet. Lastly, the whole body was embalmed by 
Ali, whom Mahomet had ordered to do it; and those who 
helped him were hoodwinked, because the prophet had foretold 
that blindness would be the fate of any other person, who 
should see him naked. Strange wonders and sweet odours 
accompanied this ceremony; at least so say the Mussulmen 
writers. Ali dipped some cloths in the water, with which he 
had been washed; they imbibed the virtues of it, and Ali, who 
kept them and wore them, became a partaker of those virtues. 

Prayers were now said for him and his family by all the 
faithful in order. Gagnier asserts, that his body was not hung 
up in an iron chest, as is generally reported. 

In relation to the place where the prophet’s remains were to 
be deposited, there happened some disputes among his folloAv- 
ers. The Mohajerins insisted upon his being buried at 
Mecca, the place of his nativity; and the Ansars , at Medina, 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


121 


the place of his residence during the last ten years of his life. 
Others were for transporting him to Jerusalem, and erecting 
a monument for him there amongst the sepulchres of the pro¬ 
phets. But his successor, Abu-Beker, decided the whole affair 
at once, by declaring that a prophet ought to be interred in the 
place where he died; and that he had heard Mahomet, in his 
lifetime, own himself to be of this opinion. Whereupon the 
body was buried in a grave dug under the bed on which he 
died, in the apartment of Ayesha, his best beloved wife, at 
Medina, where it remains to this day, in a magnificent build¬ 
ing, covered with a cupola, and adjoining to the east side of 
the great temple, which is built in the midst of the city. 

The sorrow and doleful complaints of the Mussulmen on 
this occasion were no doubt very great; but we shall omit 
the enthusiastic description of them given by Arabian histo¬ 
rians, to give the true character of this prophet. As to his 
person and outward appearance, he was of a middle stature, 
neither endowed witn extraordinary beauty, nor in any way 
deformed. The Arabians, indeed, assert, that the prophetic 
light, which descended lineally from Adam to him, made his 
face as bright as the sun. Nor must we omit what they say 
of his spittle, viz. that it was so sweet, and of so good a taste, 
that children might have been fed with it. A wen which he 
had between his shoulders, and which disappeared at his 
death, Avas, they say, the seal of prophecy; to which they add, 
that flics and other insects were never troublesome to him, 
and that, consequently, his skin was always soft and shining. 

Those authors are likewise as extravagant in their description 
of his mind. We may easily believe, however, that he was far 
more ingenious than others of his countrymen, upon whom 
he prevailed by his subtle devices, natural eloquence, and re¬ 
markable affability: the latter quality was, however, some¬ 
times assumed, not without a mixture of severity. He affected 
likewise to be thought a great lover of justice and truth. He 
w r as so liberal to the poor as to be called their father, never 
refused to give alms to them, and maintained constantly forty 
at his own charge. It is said, too, that though he was master 
of an immense estate, yet he often had nothing left but what 
was absolutely necessary for the support of his family. He 
was very sparing in his diet, and ate only some dates, and 
drank nothing but water for several months of the year. The 
Arabians, likewise, say of him, that he took his meals stand¬ 
ing, or in an uneasy situation, with his servant; made his 
own shoes, his clothes; swept the house, and even prepared 
the victuals for his men ! So far the austerity of his life seemed 
11 



122 


LIFE OF MAHOMET. 


to imitate the severity of the anchorets and solitaries of Egypt, 
and the neighbourhood of Arabia. This mortification was 
no doubt practised in order to dazzle the common people, and 
inspire them with the highest opinion of, and veneration for, 
his sanctity. 

But with all these hardships, he indulged himself in a 
seraglio of twenty-one, and even twenty-five wives; women, 
it seems, to use his own expression, rejoiced his sight , and 
raised his fervour at his prayers. Five of his wives died 
before him; from six he was divorced, and ten remained in a 
state of widowhood after the prophet’s death. 

Mahomet had four sons and four daughters by his first wife, 
and none by any of his other wives or concubines, except 
Mary, the Copt. All his sons died in their infancy. Such 
was the life, such the death, and such the character of Ma¬ 
homet. That the desire of satisfying his sensuality was one 
of the principal motives of his undertaking, seems indisputa¬ 
bly clear, from the great number of wives and concubines he 
maintained, as well as from the wicked and unjustifiable me¬ 
thods he was obliged to make use of, in order to obtain pos¬ 
session of some of them. 

Before the death of Mahomet, he had become master of all 
Arabia; had extended his conquest to the borders of the 



Greek and Persian empires; had rendered his 
name formidable to those once mighty kingdoms; 
had tried his arms against the disciplined troops 


Mahometan 

conquests. 


of the former, and defeated them in a desperate encounter at 
Muta. His throne was now firmly established ; and an im¬ 
pulse given to the Arabian nations, which induced them to 
invade, and enabled them to conquer, a large portion of the 
globe. India, Persia, the Greek empire, the whole of Asia 
Minor, Egypt, Barbary, and Spain, were eventually reduced 
by their victorious arms. Mahomet himself did not indeed 
live to see such mighty conquests achieved, but he commen¬ 
ced the train which resulted in this wide-spread dominion; 
and before his death, had established over the whole of Ara¬ 
bia, and some parts of Asia, the religion which he had devised. 






RELIGIOUS TENETS, &G. 


123 


CHAPTER II. 

RELIGIOUS TENETS CEREMONIES, AND CUSTOMS OF THE 

MAHOMETANS. 

' 

All Mussulmen look upon the pilgrimage to pilgrimage 
the tomb of Mahomet, as one of the chief duties to the tomb of 
of their religion. The Arabian doctors say that Mahomet. 
Mahomet enjoined it, and it is well known that superstition 
lays a great stress on such ceremonies. Whoever undertakes 
to perform it, must often, even upon the road, turn himself to¬ 
wards Medina to pray; as soon as he sees the tops of the 
trees about the town, he ought to renew his devotion, and re¬ 
peat without intermission the appointed form of prayers, to beg 
of God that this visit to the holy sanctuary of the prophet may 
be acceptable, and may deliver him from hell. Before he en¬ 
ters the city, he is enjoined to wash himself, to use perfumes, 
put on his best apparel, and to give alms. Having entered, he 
says a prayer, and another when he comes into the mosque; 
this latter is for Mahomet and his family. The pilgrim then 
goes towards the tomb, stays some time at the place where the 
Prophet prayed, and also at some other places, accordingly as 
his devotion suggests to him. Being at last arrived near the 
holy place, he first prostrates himself on the ground, pays his 
adoration to God, gives him thanks for having conducted him 
safely thither; then standing up, with his face turned towards 
Mecca, he prays for the prophet and his two successors, Abu- 
Beker and Omar; he does not, whilst praying, even lean 
against the wall which encloses the monument, as that would 
be considered indecent, and a profanation. Gagnier says, 
that “ The pilgrim looks on the ground, and there fixing his 
eyes, salutes the Prophet, with the utmost veneration and re¬ 
spect ; at the same time withdrawing his thoughts and affec¬ 
tions from all worldly concerns, as becomes one who is in the 
presence of God and his apostle,” &c. On the Friday follow¬ 
ing, he goes to a burying-ground, called Al-Baki, where seve¬ 
ral of the companions of Mahomet lie interred, and visits the 
tombs of the chief ladies and others of his family, servants, and 
successors; as well as of Fatima, his daughter, Ibrahim, his 
son, and the Mussulmen martyrs, &c. Then, he washes him¬ 
self in, and drinks some of the water of the well called Aris, 
into which the prophet had spitten ; and performs several 
prostrations at other mosques, oratories, and wells in Medina, 


124 


RELIGIOUS TENETS, &C. 


&c. Mahomet himself said, that one prayer in his own mosque 
is better than a thousand any where else ; and that he would 
intercede for all those who die at Medina. 

The Caaba is a stone edifice in the temple of Mecca, which 
has been revered with superior sanctity by the Arabians, 

The Caaba fr° m die remotest antiquity; and to which eve- 
or Temple of ry Mahometan is required by the Koran to di- 
Mecca. rect himseif in prayer. 

Among- the variety of fabulous traditions which have been 
propagated by the followers of Mahomet, concerning the origin 
of this building, we find it asserted, that its existence h coeval 
with our first parents, and that it was built by Adam, after his 
expulsion from Paradise, from a representation of the celestial 
temple, which the Almighty let down from heaven in curtains 
of light, and placed in Mecca, perpendicular under the ori¬ 
ginal. To this the patriarch was commanded to turn his face 
when he prayed, and to compass it by way of devotion, as the 
angels did the heavenly one. After the destruction of this 
temple by the deluge, it was rebuilt by Abraham and his son 
Ishmael on the same spot, and after the same model, accord¬ 
ing to directions, which they received by revelation; and since 
that time, it has continued to be the object of veneration to Ish- 
mael’s descendants. Whatever discredit we may give to these, 
and other ravings of the Moslem impostor concerning the 
Caaba, its high antiquity cannot be disputed; and the most 
probable account is, that it was built and used for religious 
purposes, by some of the early patriarchs ; and after the in¬ 
troduction of idols, it came to be appropriated to the reception 
of the Pagan divinities. Diodorus Siculus, in his description 
of the coast of the Red Sea, mentions this temple as being, in 
his time, held in great veneration by all the Arabians ; and 
Pocoke informs 11 s, that the linen or silken veil, with which 
it is covered, was first offered by a pious king of the Hamyar- 
ites, seven hundred years before the time of Mahomet. It had 
been frequently repaired, and was rebuilt a few years after the 
birth of .this prophet, by the tribe of Ivoreish, who had acquired 
the possession of it either by fraud or violence from the 
Khozaites. The Caaba then contained three hundred and 
sixty images of men, lions, eagles, &c., the objects of idolatrous 
worship, which were all destroyed by Mahomet, after the ta¬ 
king of Mecca, when it was purified and adorned, and conse¬ 
crated to the service of Islam. It received several reparations 
after his death, and was rebuilt by one of his successors, with 
some alterations, in the form in which it now stands. 

As no European is permitted to visit Mecca, the only 


OF THE MAHOMETANS. 


125 


knowledge we have of the present appearance of the Caaba, is 
derived from the description and draughts of the Mahometans, 
who indeed speak of it in terms of high admiration. It would 
appear, however, even from their designs, th^it it is an awk¬ 
ward and shapeless building. It consists of a sort of square 
tower, 24 cubits by 23, and 27 high, covered on the top with 
rich black damask, bordered with an embroidery of gold, 
which was formerly renewed every year by the Mahometan 
Caliphs, afterwards by the Sultans of Egypt, and which is 
now annually provided by the Ottoman Porte. The floor is 
raised six feet from the ground; and a door and window 
admit the light. Its double roof is supported by three octa¬ 
gonal pillars of aloes wood, between which are suspended 
several silver lamps; and the gutters on the top are made of 
pure gold. At a small distance from this tower, on the east 
side, is the station of Abraham, where is a stone upon which 
the patriarch is supposed to have stood when he built the 
Caaba, and which, they pretend, still bears the traces of his 
footsteps. It is inclosed in an iron chest; and here the sect 
of Al Shafei meet for religious purposes. On the north of the 
Caaba is the white stone within a semicircular enclosure, 50 
cubits long, which is said to be the sepulchre of Ishmael, and 
which receives the rain-water that falls from the Caaba by a 
golden spout. This stone is of considerable antiquity, and 
was even held in great veneration by the Pagan Arabs. To¬ 
wards the southeast is the well Zem Zem, remarkable for the 
excellence and medicinal quality of its waters, as well as its 
miraculous origin. It is affirmed to be the same spring which, 
miraculously bursting out of the ground, supplied Ishmael and 
his mother Hagar, when overcome with thirst in the wilder¬ 
ness of Beersheba; and is celebrated by the Mahometans not 
only for curing many bodily diseases, but also, if taken copi¬ 
ously, for healing all spiritual disorders, and procuring an ab¬ 
solute remission of sins. The well is protected by a dome or 
cupola, and its water is drank with much devotion by the 
pilgrims, and conveyed in bottles to the most distant quarters 
of the Mahometan dominions. But the most singular relic, 
and which is regarded with extreme veneration, is the famous 
black stone, which the Mahometans pretend was one of the 
precious stones of Paradise, and was brought down from 
heaven by the angel Gabriel. According to the received tra¬ 
dition, derived from Mahomet himself, it was originally of 
such a bright white colour as to dazzle the eyes at the dis¬ 
tance of four days journey, but that it wept so long and so 
abundantly for the sins of mankind, that it became at length 
11 * 


126 


RELIGIOUS TENETS, &C. 


opaque, and at last absolutely black. When the Carmathians 
took Mecca, they pillaged the Caaba, and carried ofl the black 
stone in triumph to their capital. Tire Meccans made every 
effort to recover it, both by entreaties and the offer of 5000 
pieces of gold, but without effect. The Carmathians, however, 
after having kept it 22 years, sent it back of their own accord. 
It is now set in silver, and fixed in the south east corner of the 
Caaba, looking towards Basra, about three feet and a half 
from the ground.. It is called by the Mahometans “ the right 
hand of God,” and is kissed by the pilgrims with great 
devotion. 

The Caaba is almost surrounded with a circular enclosure 
of pillars, connected at the top by bars of silver, and towards 
the bottom by a low balustrade. Without this enclosure, on 
the south, north, and west, are three oratories, where three of 
the Mahometan sects assemble to perform their devotion. The 
whole is enclosed at a considerable distance by a square colon¬ 
nade, or great piazza, covered with small cupolas, and consist¬ 
ing of 448 pillars, from which hang numerous lamps, and 38 
gates; and from each corner rises a minaret or steeple, adorned 
with a gilded spire and crescent. This enclosure was built 
by the Caliph Omar, to prevent the court of the Caaba from 
being encroached upon by private buildings. It was at first 
merely a low wall, but has since been raised by the liberality 
of succeeding princes to its present magnificent state. The 
whole structure of the Caaba is in a peculiar manner styled 
Al Masjad Al Haram, “ the sacred or inviolable place which 
appellation, however, is sometimes extended to the whole ter¬ 
ritory of Mecca. 

According to the command of Mahomet, every Mussulman 
must, once in his life, visit the Caaba, and perform the custo¬ 
mary acts of devotion in the sacred places. But could the 
prophet have foreseen into what distant regions his religion 
was to be introduced by the arms of his followers, he -would 
soon have perceived the absurdity of such an injunction. Few 
in comparison with the immense numbers who have embraced 
the doctrines of Islam, can be supposed able to discharge this 
duty; and we may presume, that it is only such as are more 
than ordinarily devout that are ever induced to visit the Caaba 
from religious motives. Many pilgrims, however, resort to 
the city of Mecca, but commercial ideas mingle with those of 
devotion, and the arcades of the temple are often filled with the 
richest merchandise from every quarter of the world. This 
duty may be discharged by proxy, but the pilgrim, in this 
character, can act only for one person at one time ; and to pre- 


OF THE MAHOMETANS. 


127 

vent all imposture, he must carry back with him a certificate 
from the Imam of Mecca, of his having actually performed all 
the devotional exercises or ceremonies appointed by the law, 
in the name of his principal.* 

In connexion with the foregoing account of the temple of 
Mecca, we shall here give an account of the pilgrimage to 
Mecca, which, as stated above, Mahomet enjoin¬ 
ed upon all his faithful followers Jo perform at Pilgrimage 
least once in his life. As soon as the devotees ° x ecca ‘ 
arrive at the consecrated district of Mecca, they perform a 
general ablution with water and sand; repeat a prayer, after 
stripping oil their garments; and put on the sacred habit of 
colourless woollen cloth, with sandals, which only defend the 
soles of their feet. They are now devoted to spiritual medi¬ 
tation, and must not even remove any vermin from their bodies. 
After reaching the city of Mecca, they encircle the Caaba se¬ 
ven times, like their pagan predecessors: repeat certain prayers; 
drink copiously of the well Zem Zem; and kiss with all their 
ardour the sacred black stone. On the first and second of the 
three days, (the period for which the Caaba is open every six 
weeks,) the men and women offer their devotions alternately; 
and on the last day the sheriff of Mecca, the chiefs of the 
tribes, and the illustrious strangers present in the city, proceed 
to wash and sweep the temple. The foul water is caught and 
drunk by the multitude ; the besoms of palm-leaves are trea¬ 
sured up as precious relics; and the black cloth which sur¬ 
rounds the door and bottom of the building, is cut off and di¬ 
vided among the pilgrims. The next part of the duty is to 
visit the mountain of Arafal, for the offering up of various 
prayers at certain times and places; and thence to Mina, 
where every individual must cast a few small stones (always 
an uneven number) at the devil’s house there, to show their 
detestation of the owner. A sacrifice is finally made of a 
goat, camel, or cow, in commemoration of Abraham’s willing¬ 
ness to offer up his son ; and after spending three days in this 
valley, the pilgrims return to Mecca previous to their depart¬ 
ure to their respective countries. As they are all allowed to 
trade on this pilgrimage, the holy city is crowded, on these 
occasions, with such merchandise of every country as is .most 
easy of carriage, and best adapted for sale; and, in former 
times, the fair of Mecca was accounted the greatest on the face 
of the earth. 

The word Koran comes from the Hebrew word car a , to 
* New Edinburgh Encyp. Art. Caaba. 



128 RELIGIOUS TENETS, &C. 

read ; Al signifies the, and koran, reading; so the Jews call 
the Bible Micra. Other Arabian doctors say it 
Koran ox Al- * g derived from caara, to gather ; because having 
Horan. been g i ven p y portions, it was afterwards put into 

one. The Mahometans have as great a veneration for the 
Koran as Christians profess for the Bible. Both these words 
equally signify the Booh, by way of preference to any other j 
that is, the Booh of Boohs. 

One hundred and fourteen chapters, some longer, some 
shorter, make up the whole book; these are called by the 
French surates , from the Arabic word sua, in the plural, sowar , 
which signifies order , or a series , or a file; and answers to 
what the Jews call seder, of which they reckon fifty-three in 
the Pentateuch. Each chapter of the Koran has a particular 
denomination, taken from the subject of which it treats, or from 
some person mentioned in it; but more frequently from the 
first word, which those who have put it in order, have thought 
worthy of notice, though it occurs sometimes only toward the 
end of the chapter. 

The Koran is also divided into sixty equal parts, each of 
which is sub-divided into four, in imitation of the Jews. 
“ These sixty portions,” says Herbelot, “ are a kind of public 
service performed in the mosques, on various occasions, by 
persons hired for that purpose.” 

The Mussulmen know no bounds to the praises which they 
bestow upon this book :—it is written with the greatest elegance 
of style, in the purest Arabic dialect used by the Koreish, but 
intermixed now and then with other dialects. This was not 
an effect of neglect, nor of a lazy disposition, but in order to 
give the discourse a greater and more lively strength of ex¬ 
pression, or to make it more harmonious. Indeed, all those 
who are versed in the Arabic language, unanimously agree, 
that the Koran cannot be the production of an idle and lazy 
author. Although it be written in prose, the energy and har¬ 
mony of its style must have cost the writer greater labour and 
industry, and raises the work to the sublime character oi 
poetry: yet the difficulty of finding out certain witty turns, of¬ 
ten interrupts the thread of the discourse, and, consequently, 
renders it obscure, which has obliged Mahomet not to be con- 
cise and short, but to use frequent repetitions. His figures are 
bold in the oriental taste, his expression strong and pithy; the 
turn of his phrases, in imitation of the prophets of the Old 
Testament, is full of interruptions; and it appears throughout 
the whole, that all the art and eloquence of which Mahomet 
was master, have been employed in the most proper places. The 


OF THE MAHOMETANS. 


129 


mention of God, and the description of his attributes, are 
always lofty and majestic: oracles are pronounced with a 
raised and elevated style, proportioned to the dignity of the 
subject. In short, the Arabians are so charmed with the beau¬ 
ties of the Koran, that in all their writings they endeavour to 
copy this perfect original ; and without a competent knowledge 
of this one book, all others become unintelligible. 

It is a remark of Sir William Jones that the Koran shines 
with a borrowed light, since most of its beauties are taken 
from our Scriptures. Of the truth of this remark The Koran 
every reader would be satisfied who should com- greatly in- 1 ™ 
pare the two. He would find for example many debted to the 
of the historical details of the Christian scripture Christian 
in the Koran ; such as the creation of the world, Scri P tures * 
the fall of Adam, the deluge, the deliverance of Noah and 
his family in the ark, the call of Abraham, the stories of 
Isaac and Ishmael, &c. &c. At the same time he would find 
these subjects interspersed with extravagant fables, and mon¬ 
strous perversions of truth. He would also perceive that the 
Koran is indebted to the Scriptures for not a few of its senti¬ 
ments, but that their very imagery and phraseology have in 
hundreds of instances been adopted. The following may 
serve as an example of the correspondence to which we have 
alluded:— 

BIBLE. KORAN. 

Take heed that ye do not Make not your alms of 
your alms before men to be none effect, by reproaching 
seen of them; otherwise ye or mischief; as he that layeth 
have no reward of your Fa- out what he hath, to appear 
ther which is in heaven. unto men to give alms. 

Jesus of Nazareth, a man We gave unto Jesus, the 
approved of God among you son of Mary, manifest signs, 
by miracles and wonders, and and strengthened him with 
signs which God did by him. the Holy Spirit. 

Thou shalt give life for life, We have therein command- 
tooth for tooth, foot for foot, ed them that they should give 
burning for burning, wound life for life, and eye for eye, 
(or wound, stripe for stripe. and nose for nose, and ear for 

ear, and tooth for tooth, and 
that wounds should be punish¬ 
ed by retaliation. 

But their minds were blind- There is of them who 
ed: for until this day remain- hearkeneth unto thee when 
eth the same veil untaken thou readest the Koran ; but 
away in the reading of the we have cast veils over their 


130 


RELIGIOUS TENETS, &C. 


BIBLE. KORAN. 

Old Testament. But even un- hearts, that they should not 
to this day when Moses is read, understand it, and deafness in 
the veil is upon their heart. their eai’s. 

They said therefore unto The infidels say, Unless 
him, What sign she west thou some sign be sent down unto 
then, that we may see and be- him from his Lord, we will 
lieve thee ? not believe. 

In the beginning God crea- It is he who hath created 
ted the heaven and the earth, the heavens and the earth: 
And God said, Let there be And whenever he sayeth unto 
light, and there was.light. a thing, Be, it is. 

And when he (Moses) was I have already dwelt among 
full forty years old, it came in- you to the age of forty years 
to his heart to visit his bre- before I received it (the Ko- 
thren, the children of Israel. ran.) Do ye therefore not 

understand % 

And in the latter time of According to thy dream 
their kingdom, when the trans- shall thy Lord choose thee 
gressors are come to the full, a and teach thee the interpreta¬ 
king of fierce countenance, tion of dark sayings, 
and understanding dark sen- We taught him the inter- 
tences, shall stand up. pretation of dark sayings, but 

the greater part of men do not 
understand. 

I will open my mouth in pa- O Lord, thou hast given 
rabies; I will utter things me a part of 'the kingdom, 
which have been kept secret and hast taught me the inter- 
from the foundationof the world, pretation of dark sayings. 

And the seventh angel And his will be the king- 
sounded ; and there were dom on the day whereon the 
great voices in heaven, saying, trumpet shall be sounded. 

The kingdoms of this world 
are become the kingdoms of 
our Lord and of his Christ. 

For behold, I created new The day will come when 
heavens and a new earth. We the earth shall be changed in¬ 
look for new heavens and a to another earth, and the hea- 
new earth. I will cause you vens into other heavens; and 
to come up out of your graves, men shall come forth from 
And every man shall receive their graves to appear before 
his own reward according to the only, the mighty God. 
his own labour. That God may reward every 

soul according to what it shall 
have deserved. 


OF THE MAHOMETANS. 


131 


As to the true origin of the Koran, a difference of opinion 

has existed among writers. The majority however have 

agreed in supposing that in the construction of 

the Koran, Mahomet was indebted to the assist- Origin °f the 
r i, . Koran, 

ance oi one or more accomplices. That this 

opinion prevailed in the time of the prophet is certain, since 
in the Koran it is said, “ We also know that they say. Verily 
a certain man teacheth him to compose the Koran.” “ And 
the unbelievers say, This Koran is no other than a forgery, 
which he hath contrived : and other people have assisted him 
therein: but they utter an unjust thing and a falsehood.” 
But notwithstanding this emphatic denial on the part of the 
prophet of assistance, writers have still believed that he 
had aid, especially from a Nestorian monk named Sergius, 
supposed to be the same person as the Boheira, with whom he 
became acquainted at an early period of his life at Bosra, in 
Syria. Still, however, it must be admitted, that there is no 
certain evidence in the case, and it will probably remain an 
unsolved problem to the end of time what was the precise ori¬ 
gin of this remarkable book, although in respect to its human 
and uninspired composition there exists not a doubt. 

The articles of faith which every good 

Mussulman is bound to believe and receive with Mahometan 
,• ,•!•,• if profession of 

an entire assurance are thirteen m number, oi 

which the first and principal is as follows: 

To believe from the heart, to confess with the tongue, and 
with a voluntary and steadfast mind to affirm, that there is but 
one only God, Lord and Governor of the uni- 
verse, who produced all things from nothing, in ence ° s exist ~ 
whom there is neither image nor resemblance, 
who never begot any person whatsoever, as he himself was 
begotten by none; who, as he never was a son, so he never 
hath been a father. It is this Lord and Sovereign Arbiter of all 
things whom we Mussulmans are bound to serve and adore; 
so that none among us may deviate from this article, but every 
one must imprint it deeply in his heart; for it is unquestionable. 

We must believe from our hearts and confess with our 
mouths that the Most High God, after having revealed him¬ 
self to mankind by his ancient prophets, sent us 
at length his Elected, the blessed Mahomet, with 
the sacred and divine law, which through his 
grace he had created, the which is contained in 
the venerable Koran, that hath been from him remitted unto 
By this holy law it is that God hath abolished all the 


Prophet Ma¬ 
homet and the 
Koran. 


US. 


preceding ones, and hath withdrawn from their doubts and 



132 


RELIGIOUS TENETS, &C. 


errors all nations and people, in order to guide them to a firm 
and lasting state of happiness. Wherefore we are obliged 
exactly to follow the precepts, rites, and ceremonies thereof, 
and to abandon every other sect or religion whatsoever, whe¬ 
ther instituted before or since this final revelation. By this 
article we are distinguished and separated from all sorts of 
idolatry, lying rhapsodies, and false prophecies, and from all 
those sects, societies, and religions different from ours, which 
are either erroneous, abrogated, or exaggerated, void of faith, 
and without truth. 

We must firmly believe and hold as a certainty, that, ex¬ 
cept God himself, who always was and always shall be, every 
thing shall one day be annihilated, and that the 
and >r ° V redesti an S e ^ °f death shall take to himself the souls of 
nation. & mortals destined to a total and universal extinc¬ 
tion, # by the command of God, our powerful 
Lord and Master, who was able and hath vouchsafed to pro¬ 
duce out of nothing, and in fine to set in form this universal 
world, with all things therein contained, both good and evil, 
sweet and bitter ; and hath been pleased to appoint two angels, 
the one on the right, and the other on the.left, to register the 
actions of every one of us, as well the good as the bad, to the 
end that judicial cognizance may be taken thereof, and sen¬ 
tence pronounced thereupon, at the great day of judgment. It 
is therefore necessary to believe predestination: but it is not 
permitted to discourse thereof to any whomsoever, till after 
being perfectly well versed in the study of our written law, 
viz. the Koran, and of our Sonnah, which is our oral law. 
Seeing then all things are to have an end, let us do good 
works, and deport ourselves so that we may live for ever. 

We must truly and firmly believe and hold as certain and 
assured, the interrogation of the sepulchre, which will after 

The interro- death be administered to every one of us by two 
gation in the angels upon these four important questions:— 
grave ' 1. Who was our Lord and our God? 2. Who 

was our prophet? 3. Which was our religion ? - 4. On what 
side was our Keblah ? He who shall be in a condition to 
make answer, that God was his only Lord, and Mahomet his 
prophet, shall find a great illumination in his tomb, and shall 
Inmself rest in glory. But he who shall not make a proper 
answer to these questions, shall be involved in darkness until 
the day of judgment. 


* Notwithstanding this annihilation, it is taught in the Koran that all 
intelligent creatures will be reproduced again at the resurrection. 













Eating the Passover by the Portuguese Jews. p. 95. 




Inner Court of the Temple of Mecca, p. 134. 



























































































































































































































OF THE MAHOMETANS. 


I n o 

OO 

We must heartily believe and hold as certain, that not only 
shall all things one day perish and be annihilated, viz. angels, 
men, and devils, but likewise this shall come to 
pass at the end of the world, when the angel d Jolution!" 1 ’ 6 
Isranl shall blow the trumpet m such sort, that 
except the sovereign God none of the universal creation shall 
remain alive immediately after the dreadful noise, which shall 
cause the mountains to tremble, the earth to sink, and the sea 
to be changed to the colour of blood. In this total extinction, 
the last who shall die will be Azarael, the angel of death ; 
and the power of the Most High God will be evidently mani¬ 
fested. 

We are obliged cordially to believe, and to hold for certain, 
that the first before all others whom God shall revive in hea¬ 
ven shall be the angel of death; and that he 
will at that time recall all the souls in general, iie 5 utule 
and reunite them to the respective bodies to 
which each belonged; some of which shall be destined to 
glory, and others to torment. But, upon earth, the first whom 
God will raise shall be our blessed prophet Mahomet. As 
for the earth itself, it shall open on all sides, and shall be 
changed in a moment; and by God’s command fire shall be 
kindled in every part thereof, which shall be extended to its 
utmost extremities. God will then prepare a vast plain, per¬ 
fectly level, and of sufficient extent to contain all creatures 
summoned to give an account of their past conduct. May this 
solemn, definite, and irrevocable judgment awaken us from 
our security; for to nothing that hath been created shall 
favour be showed. Every soul shall be judged there by the 
same rule, and without exception of persons. 

We must believe from our hearts, and hold for certain, that 
there shall be a day of judgment, whereon God shall ordain 
all nations to appear in a place appointed for 
this great trial, of sufficient vastness that His - d ® nt ay 0i 
Majesty may there be evident in splendour. It J ° 
is in this magnificent and spacious station that the universal 
assembly of all creatures shall be made, about the middle 
of the day, and in the brightness of noon: and then it is, that 
accompanied by his prophet, (Mahomet.) and in the presence 
of all mankind, God shall with justice and equity judge all 
the nations of the earth in general, and every person in par¬ 
ticular. To this effect, every one of us shall have a book or 
catalogue of our actions delivered to us; that of the good in 
such wise that it shall be received and held in the right hand: 
that of the wicked, so that it shall be received and held in the 
12 ' 




134 


RELIGIOUS TENETS, &C. 


Mahomet’s 

intercession. 


left hand. As to the duration of that day, it shall be as long 
as the continuance of the present age. This shall he a day 
of sighs and griefs, a day of tribulation and anguish, when 
the cup of sorrow and misery must be drunk up, even the 
very dregs thereof. But this is what shall be particularly ex¬ 
perienced by the ungodly and the perverse; every thing shall 
present to them ideas of sorrow and affliction. To them 
every thing shall become aloes and bitterness. They shall 
not obtain one moment of repose. They shall behold nothing 
that is agreeable, nor hear one voice that shall delight them : 
their eyes shall see nothing but the torments of hell; their 
ears shall hear nothing but the cries and howlings of devils; 
and their terrified imaginations shall represent unto them 
nothing but spectres and tortures. 

We are bound to believe, and hold as certain, that our 
venerable prophet Mahomet shall with success intercede for 
his people at the great day of examination. This 
will be the first intercession ; but at the second, 
God will be entirely relented, and all the faith¬ 
ful Mussulmans shall be transported into a state of glory, 
while not one excuse or supplication in behalf of other na¬ 
tions shall be accepted. As to the greatness of pain which 
those among us are to undergo, who have been offenders by 
transgressing the precepts of the Koran, it is known to God 
alone, as there is none but Him who exactly knoweth how 
long the same is to continue, whether its duration shall be 
more or less than that of the examination or judgment. But 
to us it belongeth to shorten its continuance by good works, 
by our charity, and by all the endeavours we are capable 
of. 

We must sincerely believe, and hold as a certainty, that we 
must every one of us give up our accounts before God, con- 

The future cerning the good and evil we have transacted in 
compensation this world. All who have been followers of 
at the last Mahomet shall be before all others summoned 
ju gment. to t hi s exam ; na ti 0 n, because they it will be who 
shall bear witness against all other strange nations. It shall 
come to pass on that day, that God will take away out of the 
balance of him who has slandered his brother some of the 
good works, and put them unto that of him who hath been 
slandered; and if the slanderer is found to have no good 
works, he will then deduct from the punishment of the slan¬ 
dered, to include them in the list of those of the slanderer, 
insomuch that his great justice will be fully manifest. At 
least, then, that we may not run the hazard of this terrible com- 


OF THE MAHOMETANS. 


195 


pensation, let us not think of wronging others, or of dimin¬ 
ishing their substance, their honour, or their good name. 

We must believe from the heart, and confess with the 
mouth, that all our actions, good and bad, shall one day be 
weighed in the balance, the one against the other, of the Ba- 
insomuch that those whose good works outweigh lance, and of 
their bad shall enter into Paradise; and that, on Purgatory, 
the contrary, they whose bad works shall outweigh their good, 
shall be condemned to the flames of hell. And for those 
whose scales shall be equally poised, because the good they 
have done is equivalent to the evil, they shall be detained in a 
station situate in the middle, between paradise and hell, where 
consideration will be made both of their merits and of their 
demerits, since besides their being confined in that place, they 
shall have no punishment inflicted on them, nor shall they 
enjoy any part of the glory ordained for the beatified righteous. 
It is true, that all those among that number who are Mussul¬ 
mans shall be at length released from their captivity, and shall 
be introduced into Paradise at the second intercession of our 
blessed prophet Mahomet, whose great compassion will be 
signalized by his engaging, in order to our redemption, to 
supplicate the power and the mercy of the Most High, as well 
as his justice, already satisfied by the long captivity of the 
criminals. Wherefore, let us from henceforward weigh our 
good works, to the end that we may assiduously strive to 
increase their weight, and that they may have the advantage 
over the bad. 

We are obliged to believe from our hearts, and to hold as 
assured, that all mankind in the world must pass one day over 
the Sharp-edged Bridge, whose length shall be The gha 
equal to that of this world, whose breadth shall e( jg e d Bridge, 
not exceed that of one single thread of a spi- and the una 
der’s web, and whose height shall be propor- voidable pas- 
tionable to its extent. The righteous shall pass ^ age 1 ieico * 
over it swifter than a flash of lightning; but the impious and 
the ungodly shall not, in as much time as the present age 
shall endure, be able to surmount the difficulties thereof, and 
that through the want of good works. For which reason, 
they shall fall and precipitate themselves into hell-lire, in com¬ 
pany with the infidels and blasphemers, with those of little 
faith and bad conscience, who have done few deeds of charity, 
because they were void of virtue. There shall be some 
among the good, notwithstanding, whose passage shall be 
lighter and swifter than that of many others, who shall therein 
meet with temptations and obstructions from every precept 


13G 


RELIGIOUS TENETS, &C. 


which they shall have ill-observed in this life. Good God ! 
how dreadful to our sight will this formidable bridge appear! 
What virtue, what secret grace from the Most High, shall we 
not need to be enabled to pass over it? 

We are to believe, and to hold for a certainty, that God did 
create a Paradise, which he prepared for the blessed, from 

Paradise among the number of the faithful, by which are 
meant the followers .of the true religion, and of 
our holy prophet Mahomet; where with him they shall be 
placed in perpetual light, and in the enjoyment of heavenly 
delights; for ever beautiful in the vigour of their .age, and 
brighter than the sun ; and where they shall be found worthy 
to contemplate and adore the face of the Most High God. As 
for those who shall be detained in the tortures of hell, to wit, 
the sinners and transgressors, who have nevertheless believed 
in one only God, they shall be released at the second inter¬ 
cession of the prophet, by whom they shall immediately be 
washed in the sacred laver, from whence being come forth 
whiter than snow, and more refulgent than the sun, they shall, 
with the rest of the blessed, behold themselves seated in para¬ 
dise, there to enjoy all the glory they can desire. This is 
what shall befall the body composed of clay; and what then 
shall be the state of our souls ? To the which it shall be 
granted eternally to behold the light and brightness of the 
divine majesty. Let us then endeavour to do works of such 
a character, that we may have no cause to fear hell-fire. Let 
us, I say, chiefly apply ourselves to good works, let us not re¬ 
fuse to exert our utmost strength in the exact observation 


thereof, and of the fast of our venerable month of Ramadan, 
and of the prayers and ceremonies which are ordained; and 
let us not defraud the poor of a tenth of all our goods. 

We must sincerely believe, and hold for certain, that there 
is a hell prepared for the unrighteous, the refractory trans- 

Hcll gressors of the divine law, accursed of God for 

their evil works, and for whom it would have 
been better had they never have been born, and to have never 
seen the light of day. It is for such as those that a place of 
torment is appointed, or rather a fire which burneth without 
touching them, a fire of ice and north winds, where there 
shall be nothing but snakes and serpents, with other venomous 
and ravenous creatures, which shall bite them without de¬ 
stroying them, and shall cause them to feel grievous pains. 
That place shall be the abode of the impious and of the devils, 
where these shall, with all sorts of cruelty and rage, inces¬ 
santly torture those; and lest the sense of their pain should 


OF TIIE MAHOMETANS. 


137 


cause them to relent, a new skin shall continually succeed in 
the stead of that which has been burned or mortified. It is 
for us Mussulmans to conceive and entertain a just horror of 
this detestable place ; such reflections are the duty of all God’s 
servants. As for those others who have declared war against 
our religion, they shall one day feel the torments of hell. Let 
us all dread this punishment and these frightful terrors. Let 
us confirm our faith by the sentiments of our hearts, and by 
the confession of our tongues, and let us engrave it in the bot¬ 
tom of our souls. 

It belongs to this place to give some account Mahometan 
of the Mahometan Liturgy. The following ab- Liturgy, 
stract is from the Turkish Catechism. 

The religion of the Ishlamites contains six chief princi¬ 
ples. 

The first is the confession of the true God, and consists in 
belie vino- that there is but one true and eternal God, and that 

o t . 

Mahomet is his apostle. 

The second is the regular practice of ablution and purifi¬ 
cation. 

The third is a regular observation of the prayers, as pre¬ 
scribed. 

The fourth is giving alms. 

The fifth is the fast of the month of Ramadan. 

The sixth is the pilgrimage of Mecca, from which no Mus 
sulman can be dispensed, if able to perform it. 

As to the purifications which are prescribed, Ablutions, 
seven different sorts of water may be used in 
them : viz. rain-water, sea, river, well, spring, snow, and hail- 
water. 

There are three sorts of ablutions and purifications. 

The first, which is called Gasl, is a kind of immersion. 
The second, named Wodou, concerns particularly the hands 
and feet. The third is made with earth or gravel, instead of 

water. # . 

Three rules are to be observed in this ablution of the body. 

First, those who do it must resolve to please God. Ablution ca]1 _ 
Secondly, all the dirt of the body must be washed c( j q asl> 
off Thirdly, the -water must touch the whole 

skin, and all the hair of the body. 

The Sonna, which is the Oral Law of the Mahometans, re¬ 
quires five things more. First, that the usual form “ In the 
name of God,” &c. be recited. Second, that we should wash 
the palms of our hands before the jugs be emptied into the 
washing place. Third, that before the prayers, some expia- 
12 * 


\. 


138 


'RELIGIOUS TENETS, &C. 


tion lustration should be made with peculiar ceremonies. 
Fourth, that to take off all dirt, the skin should be rubbed with 
the hand. Fifth, that all this be continued to the end of the 
ablution. 

Purification Six things are to be considered in this kind of 
called Wo- purification. 1. It must be performed with an in- 
dou * tention to please God. 2. The whole face is to he 

washed. 3. The hands and arms up to the elbow. 4. Some 
parts of the head are to be rubbed. 5. The feet and heels are 
to be made clean. 6. The ceremonies prescribed must be ex¬ 


actly complied with. 

Besides which, the ten institutions of the Sonna must be 
followed. 1. The form “ In the name of God,” &c. must be 
used. 2. The palms of the hands washed before the jugs be 
emptied into the washing place. 3. The face cleaned. 4. 
Some of the water drawn up the nostrils. 5. The whole head 
and ears rubbed. 6. Thick and long beards must be parted, 
to be better cleaned. 7. The toes washed one after the other, 
each singly. 8. The right hand and foot to be washed before 
the left. 9. All these things must be repeated thrice. 10. There 
must be no intermission in this performance. 

Purification Four rules are prescribed in this purification, 
with Earth or 1. It must be performed with an intention to 
Gravel. please God. 2. The face ought to be well rub¬ 

bed. 3. The same is to be done to the hands and arms, and 
elbows, and to the feet. 4. The said order must be exactly 
kept. 

Add to this the precepts of the Sonna. 1. The form in the 
name of God, &c. must be recited. 2. The right hand must 
be rubbed before the left, and so of the feet. 3. There must 
be no intermission in this rite. 

I. Thirteen rules are prescribed concerning prayers. 1. The 
intention. 2. The greatness of the names of God. 3. The 
form of the unity of God, God is great , Spc. 4. The 
right, or straight position of the body; which is, the 
feet are close together, the hands raised up to the head, or join¬ 
ed and laid upon the breast, or each apart upon the knees, bend¬ 
ing the body. The adoration is made with the face to the 
ground, sitting with their hands upon their thighs, they say, 
Lord accept of our standing , bending , adoring , and sitting. 
5. Reading the first chapter of the Koran, which is as highly 
valued by Mussulmen as the Lord’s prayer by Christians. 6. 
Bowing the body towards the earth. 7. Raising from that first 
bowing. 8. A second adoration or prostrating with the face to 
the ground. 9. Sitting down. 10. A second sitting down. 11. 


Prayers. 


OF THE MAHOMETANS. 


139 

The second form about Mahomet, the first was about God 
himself 12. The words of it, which are to be repeated. 13. 
The observing punctually each of these in their order. 

II. The Sonna requires four things more. 1. That the 
people be invited to prayer*. 2. That this invitation be re¬ 
peated with a form not much different. 3. The first confession 
about God. 4. The words or form of prayer of that confession. 

III. Five dispositions are necessary 'for prayer. 1. The 
body must be entirely clean. 2. It must be decently clad. 

3. In a clean place, so as to contract no uncleanness. 4. At 
the exact time appointed. 5. Not forgetting the Kebla, which 
is turned towards Mecca. 

IV. There are also five sorts of prayers to be said daily. 

1. At noon with four inclinations of the body. 2. In the af¬ 
ternoon with four also. 3. In the evening with three. 4. In 
the night with four. 5. In the morning with two only. In 
all seventeen for the whole day. Travellers may without sin 
reduce them to eleven. 

Some alms are left to the free choice of every Alms 
individual, others are prescribed by the law. We 
shall now treat of the latter. 

I. Alms are given out of five sorts of goods:—1. Of cattle, 
camels, oxen, sheep. 2. Of money. 3. Of corn. 4. Of other 
fruits of the earth. 5. Of goods in trade. 

II. Six conditions are required in the giver:—1. He must 
be a Mussulman, that is, a true believer. 2. A freeman. 3. 
The lawful possessor of what he is to give away; for it is an 
injustice, and not charity, to give what does not belong to us. 

4. His patrimony must be increased. As riches increase, 
alms should increase at two and a half per cent. Those who 
have not twenty pieces of gold, nor two hundred in silver, nor 
five camels, nor thirty oxen, nor thirty sheep, are not obliged 
to give alms. 5. Fie must have been in possession about a 
year, at least eleven months, without pawning it. 6. He 
must not give his working cattle, but one of those which are 
at grass, because alms are to be given from that which is not 
necessary. 

III. The same conditions are required for alms of money, 

corn, other fruits of the earth, &c.; only about corn and fruits 
it is to be observed, 1. That they must grow from our labour, 
as sowing, &c. 2. They must have been laid up in our store¬ 

rooms or barns. 3. There must be a convenient quantity left, 
so that the giver may not be reduced to want. 

IV. But we must chiefly take notice, that in the aforesaid 
alms given by those who are easy in their circumstance ; and 


140 


RELIGIOUS TENETS, &C. 


in other alms, (if that name can be given to a tax annually 
levied by a capitation at the end of the fast of Ramadan,) the 
first and best principle ought to be the intention of giving this 
or that alms as a debt which we are obliged to pay. 

The chief fast of the Mahometans is that of Ramadan. Af¬ 
ter it, is kept the feast of the Great Beiram. The little Bei- 
ram is kept on the tenth of the month Dilhazja, 
asts ' in memory of Abraham’s sacrifice. 

I. Three things are required in the person who fasts, to 
make it acceptable to God. 1. He must be a Mussulman. 

2. At an age of ripeness; fourteen in men, twelve in women. 

3. In their right senses. 

II. The conditions of the fast are five. 1. An intention of 
the heart to please God. 2. To eat nothing in the day, from 
sunrise to sunset. 3. To drink nothing of any sort. 4. To 
have no commerce with women, not even by kisses. 5. Not 
to throw up what has been eaten, which supposes both that the 
stomach is good, and that no excess is committed, or at least 
nothing taken which may give a disgust. 

In performing this devout ceremony, five things are com¬ 
manded by Divine institution. 1. The intention and religious 

Pil riria°- vow §’°^ rl ? to M ecca - 2. Spending a day on 
of Mecca iaSe M° unt Arafat, which is done on the ninth day 
of the month. 3. Shaving the head in the Val¬ 
ley of Mina. They throw seven stones one after the other in 
the Valley of Mina, after which the men (not the women) of¬ 
fer sheep, goats, oxen, or camels, in sacrifice; then shave and 
pare their nails. The hair and parings are buried in that 
valley. 4. To go seven times round the Caaba. 5. To run 
seven times between Safa and Merva, two holy places, one 
hundred and eighty cubits distant from each other. At first 
they walk slow, then run faster between two pillars; then 
walk again, looking on all sides as if seeking something lost. 
This is to represent the anxiety of Hagar, when she'endea¬ 
voured to find water in the desert for her son Ishmael. All 
these ceremonies were in use long before Mahomet, who made 
them an essential part of his religion, both in order to draw in 
the superstitious inhabitants, and to make this law seem vene¬ 
rable for its antiquity. 

We shall now enter upon the manners and customs of civil 
life, or which have some relation to the religion of Mahomet. 
Precepts, Du- We must in the first place take notice, that the 
ties &c. en- Koran contains some negative precepts, concern- 
by the in g such things which become evil or scandalous 
only by the abuse of them. Such as the forbid- 


OF THE MAHOMETANS, 


141 


ding of wine, and other intoxicating liquors, which seems en¬ 
forced in several passages of the Koran; for instance, in the 
second chapter, in which Mahomet says expressly, “ that the 
sin committed by drinking wine, is much greater than the ad¬ 
vantage reaped from the use of it; and in the fifth chapter, he 
reckons wine amongst the “ abominations which are the works 
of Satan.” Some have pretended that the excess only is for¬ 
bidden, but the general opinion is, that it is not lawful to drink 
any of those liquors, and that whoever drinks even the small¬ 
est quantity commits a sin. Those who have performed the 
pilgrimage of Mecca are the most scrupulous in this point, 
and will neither drink any wine nor make it, buy nor sell it, 
nor the implements to make it, in order to live by the profits 
of such a traffic. Yet all the Mahometans are not so exact in 
observing this law; and when reproached with the breach of 
it by Christians, they have recourse to recrimination, and up¬ 
braid us with our violation of the Gospel precepts. 

Some Mussulmen have doubted whether coffee be not com¬ 
prehended under the general denomination of intoxicating li¬ 
quors ; because, they say, it disturbs the imagination of those 
who use it. It is, however, undoubted, that coffee, though now 
universally allowed in Mahometan countries, has been here¬ 
tofore forbidden, and is now used by mere toleration, not by 
religious permission; nevertheless, very few abstain from the 
use of it. The scrupulous Mahometans are still more averse 
from tobacco, both because it has the same effect as wine and 
brandy, and also on account of a pretended prophecy of Ma¬ 
homet, that “ in the latter days some shall call themselves 
Mussulmen, without being really such, who will suck in 
through a pipe, and blow out the smoke of a plant called to¬ 
bacco.” This qualification of false brethren could not but 
render tobacco odious to scrupulous people; yet the constant 
practice is to introduce coffee and tobacco, without which no 
entertainment is thought completely polite in the east; and 
the Persians in particular say, that tobacco is to coffee, what 
salt is to meat. 

The same rigorists condemn also the use of opium, or heng, 
or treacle, although nothing be more common. The Koran 
does not mention tobacco, nor opium, nor heng, but as they 
produce the same effects as wine, they are apt to cause quar¬ 
rels, neglect of duty, several irregularities, and shameful dis¬ 
orders ; all these reasons prove the necessity of abstaining 
from all such liquors or drugs. Upon the same account, the 
.lews, from whom, and from the ancient Arabians, the Magi* 
and the Christians, Mahomet has borrowed many of his reli* 


142 


RELIGIOUS TENETS, StC. 


gious precepts, did not allow the priests to drink wine when 
they were to officiate in their turn. 

The second and fifth chapters of the Koran forbid also 
games of hazard, under the general denomination of Al Mai- 
Games of sa ^ r ' which strictly means the art of divination by 
Hazard for- arrows. We must observe that this kind of witch- 
bidden. craft is very like Rhabdomancy , that is, the art 

of divination by rods, and is mentioned in the Prophecy of 
Ezekiel, chap. 21, verse 26, which is an evident proof that 
both the Arabians and their neighbours undertook no affair of 
moment without consulting their arrows. Mahomet forbade 
all these customs, with an intent, as he said, to take away aM 
superstition; but others have been substituted for them. 

The Mahometans were likewise prohibited, under the name 
of superstition, to remove all occasions of quarrels and cheat¬ 
ing, which generally accompany games of hazard. However, 
in this instance, the civil law enforces the authority of Maho¬ 
met and of the Koran, insomuch that games of hazard are in 
disrepute, and the testimony of those who are addicted to them, 
is of no force in courts of justice; at least it is pretended, that 
such witnesses may be rejected. 

The majority of the Mahometan doctors allow the game of 
chess, as depending wholly upon industry and skill; but they 
forbid playing too long at it, or for money, or 
Chess al- laying wagers about it, or at the hours appointed 
for prayer. These restrictions are observed 
more exactly by the Turks, than by the Persians or Moguls. 
Some are of opinion, that Mahomet forbids chess under the 
name of images, because amongst the Arabians, as with us, 
most of the pieces represent men, elephants, horses, camels, 
&c.; others think that Mahomet put that restraint only upon 
the pawns, which in Turkey are made quite plain. The Ma¬ 
hometans, however, generally abstain from gaming more 
easily than from wine, and chiefly in Persia, where drunken¬ 
ness prevails as much as in some European countries. 

This subject naturally leads us to give an account of the di¬ 
versions and exercises used by the Mahometans : but we shall 
Puppet-shows, only mention those which have some relation to 
Jugglers, &c. religion, according to the good or bad use made 
allowed. 0 f them, or which even are admitted as a part of 
their religious ceremonies. Amongst these are puppet-shows, 
with which the Turks entertain their guests in private after 
their meals, notwithstanding Mahomet’s prohibition of images. 
This diversion is publicly exhibited in the Ramadan when the 
hour of fasting is past; for then they allow themselves as 


OF THE MAHOMETANS. 


143 


much sensual pleasure as the Christians do in the Carnival, or 
the Heathens during the solemnity of their Saturnalia, the two 
last days of which were spent in puppet-shows. 

They have also jugglers, quacks, and public dancers of 
both sexes, called tchinguis; and although the Turks, Per¬ 
sians, and Moguls, look upon dancers by profession as people 
of loose lives and morals, yet it must be owned, that those 
disorders are not always the consequence of dancing, and 
several nations have made use of it in their religious worship. 
Nothing, therefore, but the abuse has rendered dancing con¬ 
temptible amongst the Mahometans, who nevertheless admit 
it in their religion, as appears by the turnings of their Jer¬ 
vises, which the majority of travellers represent as a solemn 
act of w r orship performed every Tuesday and Friday. The 
superior of these dervises preaches a sermon on some text of 
the Koran, which is followed by some prayers out of the same 
book, sung by all of them together; then, having made a low 
bow to the superior, they begin to dance, or turn about, whilst 
some play on the flute, or other instruments. This ceremony 
was invented by one Mewlana, whom the dervises honour as 
a great saint j and we are assured by Ricault, that this man, 
whom he calls Mevelava , by a miracle, turned fourteen days 
together without resting or taking any nourishment, whilst 
another dervise, named ITamze, his companion, played on the 
flute; after which he fell into an ecstasy, and received won¬ 
derful revelations, and was very instrumental in founding the 
order of dervises. The flute is, they think, a sacred instru¬ 
ment of music, sanctified by Jacob and other holy shepherds 
of the Old Testament, who made use of it; yet the rigorists 
condemn both the dance and instruments of music, as contrary 
to religion. 

As to the distinction of meats, we shall only add, that the 
Koran in several places forbids blood, and the flesh of beasts, 
which have been either offered to idols, or which have died 
naturally ; and some Mussulmen are so cautious in that point, 
that unless the butcher pronounces the prayer BismilVah , or 
“ Iq the name of God,” &c. whilst he kills any beast, they do 
not think it lawful to eat of it. 

Usury is also condemned in the second chapter of the 
Koran, and ranked amongst the most enormous sins. Ma¬ 
homet does not allow it, as the Jews do, even to- Usur _ 
wards infidels. Yet there are some Mussulmen, demned 
who are usurers and extortioners, and give 
what interpretation they think fit, in order to elude the pre¬ 
cepts of the Koran, as toe many Christians do with respect to 


141 


RELIGIOUS TENETS, &C. 


the Gospel. The same chapter which forbids usury, enjoins 
mercy and forbearance with a debtor who is not able to pay, 
without depriving himself of the necessary means for the sub¬ 
sistence of himself and family; in which case, Mahomet or¬ 
ders his followers not to begin any prosecutions for such 
debts, but to reckon them as an alms given to the debtor. He 
may have borrowed this from the law of Moses and of Christ, 
and the dictates of humanity may also have inspired him to 
make that law, both to avoid merciless and extortionate law¬ 
suits, and to prevent his subjects from being ruined. Thus 
we see the Romans, who lived before the Gospel, and were 
but little, if at all, acquainted with the law of Moses, had such 
an abhorrence of usury, that they obliged usurers to restore 
four times as much as they had thus unjustly gained ; whereas 
thieves were only condemned to pay double what they had 
stolen. Prudence and equity convinced them, that a usurer 
was more pernicious to society than a thief 

The same sentiments of humanity, and the common good 
of society, prompted Mahomet to abolish the barbarous custom 
of the Koreishites and other Arabians, of burying girls alive ; 
which they pretended was in order to prevent the shame 
which they might cause to their parents by an evil conduct, 
and the slavery and miseries to which they were exposed. 
Moreover, they had no regard for women, but upon account 
of propagation and pleasure, and looked on their birth as a 
misfortune, their death a happiness ; therefore, when a woman 
was in labour, she Avas led to a grave, and if delivered of a 
female child, it was throAvn in and buried. 

The ceremony of marriage is in high esteem amongst the 
Mahometans; yet it is not celebrated in the presence of the 

Mavriao-c P r i ests > nor is it considered an act of religion, 
ceremonies. as with the Jcavs and Christians, and formerly 
with the Romans and Grecians. The Cadi, or 
civil judge, gi\ r es it a sanction ; “as to an act purely relating 
to society, which is not valid without his presence. The hus¬ 
band acknowledges that he has obliged himself to marry such 
a woman, to give her such a dowry, and to dispose of her at 
pleasure in case of drcorce.” The Avoman is not present at 
this acknowledgment ; but the father, or some of the relations, 
assist at it; which being done, the husband takes possession 
of his wife, who is brought to him veiled under a canopy, ac¬ 
companied by friends, relations, slaves, and music. 

Ricault says, that “ Avives are not jealous of concubines, if 
they be not deprived of the right AAdiich they claim, and the 
law gives them, to be admitted once a week to their husbands’ 













































































OF T11E MAHOMETANS. 


145 


beds. On failure of this, they may demand it on the Thurs¬ 
day night 0 / the following week, and even go to law with 
their husbands if they do not grant it. If any be so bashful 
as to neglect this public way of obtaining justice, they en¬ 
deavour to find out some other way of recompensing them¬ 
selves for their loss.” 

The majority of travellers affirm, that the Turks have a 
kind of half-marriage, called Cabin; which consists in taking 
a wife for a time limited. This agreement is made before the 
judge, w r ho, in the presence of the contracting parties, writes 
it dowm, and the stipulated sum of money is paid to the wo¬ 
man when the time is elapsed. 

The Mahometans are allowed to make use of their female 
slaves j and here we must take notice, first, that Mussulmen 
may marry women of any religion, the tenets of which are 
written; and secondly, that all the children,whether by wives 
or slaves, equally inherit their father’s property, if by will or 
otherwise the father has declared them free; in default of 
which, the children of a slave still remain slaves to the eldest 
son of the family. 

Thevenot says, “ That the Turks never marry their rela¬ 
tions, unless they are more distant than eight generations, and 
that the Mahometan women study to embellish themselves by all 
the arts in use amongst our European ladies; false hair, paint, 
rich clothes, often to the ruin of their husbands and families. 

The Koran inveighs strongly against adultery, and orders 
that a husband, w ? ho accuses his wife of that crime, and dees 
not prove it, shall be bastinadoed. When there are no proofs 
nor witnesses, the husband swears five times, that what he al¬ 
leges is true, and to the last oath adds a curse, wishing lie 
may be cursed by God and men if he lies : on the other side, 
the woman is believed, if she also swears five times, and adds 
to the last oath a prayer, desiring God to destroy her, if her 
husband speaks truth. However, if the adultery be fully 
proved, the husband has her life in his pow r er, and if revenge¬ 
ful, puts her in a sack full of stones, and drowns her. But 
then, Tournefort adds, that “they are so cautious in their 
amours, that few die in the water; and if the husband spares 
their lives, they are happier than before, because she is 
obliged to marry her gallant, who, if a Christian, must em¬ 
brace Mahometanism or die.” As to the adulterer, he is often 
condemned to ride an ass, with his face towards the tail, which 
he holds as a bridle. He is crowned with tripe and guts, 
and has a neckcloth of the same, and at last is bastinadoed 
upon the reins and the soles of his feet. 

I O 

o 


146 


RELIGIOUS TENETS, &C. 


We must not omit the curious particularities related by 
Ricault, when the princesses of the Ottoman empire are mar¬ 
ried to some great and powerful man; this pretended honour 
is the effect of the jealousy which the emperors of Turkey 
conceive of their power, and is generally the forerunner of 
their ruin. “ When the Grand Seignior is apprehensive of 
the great power of a bashaw, he makes him marry one of his 
sisters, or relations, under pretence of conferring upon him a 
greater honour; but instead of being greater, he becomes the 
most abject slave to the pride and tyranny of a woman, who 
treats him like a footman: yet he dares not refuse, nor seem 
to undervalue this token of his master’s favour: he must re¬ 
solve to devotfe himself wholly to her, and renounce all his 
other wives or slaves, who might lay claim to any part of his 
love: if he has already an amiable wife, and children by her, 
who engages his most tender affection, he is obliged to turn 
her out of his house, and also every other person, who might 
be displeasing to this Sultana, although unknown to him.. If, 
before the wedding, she sends to ask of him money, jewels, or 
rich furs, he must send them to her with an expression of 
pleasure and thanks; this is called Aghirlic. He is moreover 
obliged to settle upon her what dowry the match-makers are 
pleased to appoint. This dowry or cabin being stipulated 
/before a judge, he is led by a black eunuch to the Sultana’s 
chamber, to give her thanks. When he enters the room, she 
draws her dagger, and haughtily demands, who made him- so 
bold as to approach her ? He answers with a profound re¬ 
spect, and shows to her the Emmery Padschah , or the Grand 
Seigniors order for the wedding. She then rises, receives 
him with mildness, and allows him to entertain her with more 
familiarity; then a eunuch takes his slippers, and places them 
at the door, as a token of his meeting with a kind reception, 
A few minutes after, the Bashaw makes a low bow down to the 
ground, and drawing back, makes a speech, to testify how hpppy 
he thinks himself for the honour she intends to confer upon him. 
This being over, he stands silent in a humble posture, with his 
hands across his breast, till she orders him to bring her some 
water. He obeys readily, and kneeling, presents to her a water- 
cup prepared for that ceremony: she raises a red veil embroider¬ 
ed with gold and silver flowers, which covered her face, and 
drinks: her women immediately bring in a low table on which 
are set two roasted pigeons, and some candied sugar on a plate, 
or a plate of sweetmeats. The gallant desires her to eat, 
which she refuses till he has made her some rich present. 
This calms her anger, overcomes her modesty; she sits down 


OF THE MAHOMETANS. 


147 


to the table, graciously receives from his hand the leg of a 
pigeon, and having eaten some, puts into his mouth a piece 
of sugar, then rises, and goes back to her place: all the com¬ 
pany withdraw, and leave the newly married couple alone for 
the space of an hour, that he may freely converse with her. 
Then his friends come with instruments of music playing; 
they invite him to come to the ante-c.hamber, where he spends 
the night with them in drinking and diversion: the Sultana 
does the same in her room with her ladies. At last, the princess 
being tired, goes at break of day to lie down in a bed exqui¬ 
sitely rich, well perfumed, and every way fit for the ceremony. 
A eunuch gives notice to her husband by a sign, and intro ¬ 
duces him without noise into the bed-chamber. He puts off 
his upper garments, kneels for some time at the feet of the bed, 
then growing bolder, raises softly the covering, softly touches 
and kisses the feet of the princess, and slides into her arms. In 
the morning, his friends come again to conduct him to the bath, 
and his spouse presents him with all the linen requisite in that 
place. After this, they live more familiarly within doors; but 
in public, she is more reserved, and shows her superiority. 
She wears a changiar or dagger by her side, and requires of 
him so many presents, that sooner or later she empties his 
coffers.” 

Mahomet, in order to hinder his followers from putting their 
wives away too often, expressly forbids the taking of them 
again, after a third repudiation, unless they have Divorces 
been married and repudiated by another man. 

This, they say, has had so good an effect, that very few Ma¬ 
hometans are divorced from their wives, and the number of 
those who take them again is still less. 

The third divorce is called Ouch-tala,c; which Bespier ex¬ 
plains three , or the third separation; of which the Turks have 
three different sorts made before the Cadi, and registered by 
him. By the first, the husband and wife are parted from bed 
and board; she receiving from him a maintenance. The se¬ 
cond is a total separation of body and goods ; the husband must 
then give her the stipulated dowry; after which, she has no 
claim to his person nor goods, and may marry another, three 
lunar months after the divorce, for fear she should be with 
child; in which case, she cannot marry, and may even remain 
in her husband’s house, and be maintained at his cost till she 
be delivered. The Ouch-ialac is the most solemn divorce, but 
not practised by the Persians. 

The women do not enjoy the same privilege of parting with 
'heir husbands, unless for want of necessaries, as rice, coffee, 


U8 RELIGIOUS TENETS, <fcC. 

wood, money to go to the bagnio, flax to spin their clothes, 
which the law supposes they are industrious enough to make. 

Children come next under our consideration, as being the 
fruits of matrimony. They become members of Mahomet¬ 
anism by circumcision, which they derive from the Ishmael- 
ites, who, as well as the Jews, are descended from Abraham, 
to whom God gave a particular command for the performance 
of it. 

The Turks do not circumcise their children till they are full 
seven years old, and when they are beyond that age, they do 
it when they think fit. Chardin assures us, that the Persians 
perform this ceremony when the boys are five or six years 
old; but the Mahometan doctors say, it should be done accord¬ 
ing to the rules, at thirteen, because Ishmael was circumcised 
at that age; or at nine, because children begin then to dis¬ 
cern good from evil. Plowever, this is not performed in the 
same manner as by the Jews; it is done by a surgeon, not by 
a priest: God ordained it as a sign or seal of the justice ob¬ 
tained by faith. 

The day of circumcision is a day of joy for all the relations 
of the child. He is carried on horseback, with kettle-drums 
and tabors sounding, dressed in his best attire, followed by his 
school companions, who pronounce aloud some passages of 
the Koran. Being brought home, he is directed to repeat the 
profession of faith, “ There is no other God but God,” &c., 
holding up one finger, and then he is circumcised. 

When a grown-up person embraces Mahometanism, he is 
led on horseback, carrying in his left hand a dart, with the 
point turned towards his heart, to testify that he will rather 
suffer himself to be pierced through the heart, than renounce 
his new religion; but Tournefort says, they only make their 
new converts lift up a finger, probably out of contempt for 
those persons who leave the religion in which they were 
brought up. 

Boys have a name given them on the day of their circum¬ 
cision, but this custom is also subject to* some variations. 
Tournefort says, the father gives what name he pleases to his 
child as soon as it is born, holding him in his arms, and lifting 
him up to offer it to God; after which, he puts salt into his 
mouth, and gives him a name with a blessing. Superstition 
creeps in ; for in Persia, several names taken out of the Koran 
are huddled together, one of which, drawn by an infant, is 
given to the child. 

Some Mahometans do not look upon circumcision as an in¬ 
dispensable act of religion, nor is it necessary to salvation; 


OF THE MAHOMETANS. 


149 


whilst others think that this ceremony confers inward faith, 
and that God will not hear the prayers of an uncircumcised 
man. Some Mussulmen are of opinion that the circumcision 
of the father has an influence on his children, and that it con¬ 
tributes to their salvation. 

We shall conclude this subject with a few remarks on the 
birth and education of children. When the children of princes 
and great lords are born, the moment of their birth is kept 
very secret, in order to avoid all charms and witchcraft, and 
to prevent astrologers from casting their nativity, and foretell¬ 
ing sinister events. The Mahometans, like other nations, ad¬ 
mit of adopted children ; and it is very common amongst the 
Turks. The manner of doing it, is to make the adopted per¬ 
son put on, and go through the shirt of the person who adopts 
him. This adoption is called Akhrat. Next to the chief 
points of religion, beauty and strength of body are in the 
greatest estimation with Mussulmen, who are persuaded a de¬ 
formed body can but cover a base soul. The Indians even 
pretend that such bodies are prisons, into which souls are cast 
for great crimes committed in a former life. 

The mourning for the dead begins with such loud cries and 
lamentations made by the women, that the death soon becomes 
published to the most distant neighbours. The 
custom of making loud cries and noisy lamenta- ^monies** 
tions for departed friends, of rolling in the dust, 
or covering one’s self with ashes, &c. is very ancient in the 
east; nor is it much altered amongst the modern inhabitants of 
those countries. Thevenot informs us, that these Turkish 
women give over crying when there are no witnesses of 
their tears, being hired for that purpose, which lasts several 
days, and is renewed at the end of the year. Previously to 
the burial, the corpse is washed and shaved, frankincense is 
burnt about it, to expel the devil and other evil spirits, which, 
as the Mahometans and several other nations believe, rove 
about the dead, no less than about the living. This ceremony 
being over, the body is put into a burial-dress without a seam, 
that it may, as they pretend, kneel with less difficulty, when 
it is to be examined in the grave. The coffin is covered with 
a pall, preceded by imans, who pray, and followed by the 
relations and friends of the deceased, with the women who 
lament and shed tears. At the grave the corpse is taken out 
of the coffin, and put into the ground. The women stay there 
to cry. 

The difference betwixt the graves of the Turks and of the 
Christians in those countries, consists in a board, which the 
13* 


150 


RELIGIOUS TENETS, ScC. 


Turks put over the corpse slanting, so that one end of it touches 
the bottom of the grave, and the other leans against the top of 
the grave. But neither the Turks nor the Christians of the 
east bury their dead in coffins. Moreover, the r l urks place a 
stone at the head of the corpse, for the convenience of the an¬ 
gels who are to examine the deceased. This civility which 
is paid to them will, as the Mahometans superstitiously be¬ 
lieve, make them more indulgent. 

The palls are different, and the tombs variously adorned, 
according to the condition and state of life of the deceased, sol¬ 
diers or churchmen, rich or poor. The burying-places of the 
Mahometans are by the high-road, “ in order,” as Thevenot 
says, “ to put travellers in mind to offer their prayers to God for 
the dead, and to obtain his blessing.” For which reason, those 
who build a bridge, or some other public fabric, from an act 
of charity, are likewise buried in or near them. The large 
stones which are erected in the church-yards are so numerous, 
that a town might be built with them. After the funeral, the 
relations and friends of the deceased come several days suc¬ 
cessively to pray on his tomb, beseeching God to rescue him 
from the torments inflicted by the black angels; and calling 
the deceased by his name, they say to him, Fear not , but 
answer them bravely. On the Friday following, victuals and 
drink are brought to the grave, of which, whoever passes by 
may freely partake.” 

The Persian Mahometans have a strange notion, that the 
an gel who presides at the birth of children, pnixes some earth 
with the matter of which they are made, and introduces it into 
the mother’s womb, at the instant of the conception ; whence 
they conclude, that every one must endeavour to die in the 
same place from which the angel took that earth. They have 
a more rational custom grounded on principles of humanity, 
which is, that whoever meets a funeral must accompany the 
corpse, and even help to carry it, if their help be wanted. 

The same Persians have retained in their mournings the 
old ceremony of tearing their clothes to testify their grief; 
and what is much more commendable, they give alms during 
seven days. But, for the satisfaction of our readers, we shall 
present them with an abstract of the account, which Chardin 
gives of the customs of the Persian Mahometans, from the 
death of the sick person, to the end of the mourning for him. 

“ At the first signs of an approaching death, small lamps 
are lighted on the terrace or flat roof of the house ; this puts 
the neighbours and passengers in mind to pray for the sick 
person. Moll as . or priests, are sent for; they preach repent- 


OF TIIE MAHOMETANS. 


151 


ance to him, mentioning all the sins of which he may have 
been guilty. He answers tube , that is, I repent, to each sin 
that is mentioned ; and when he has lost his speech, the Ko¬ 
ran is read by his bed-side, till he gives up the ghost. This 
is soon notified to the whole neighbourhood by excessive out¬ 
cries and lamentations. The relations and other friends rend 
thei? clothes from the neck to the girdle, tear off their hair, 
scratch their faces, strike their breasts, and manifest everv 
sign of sorrow and despair ; but the women exceed all bounds 
of moderation in their grief, not without a mixture of long 
complaints, tender and moving speeches, addressed to the de¬ 
ceased. 

“ The cazy or judge, is now acquainted with the death. 
They inform his porter, Such a one is dead; he answers, 
May pour head be sound; and then goes to the judge to get 
from him a sealed piece of paper, by which he gives permis¬ 
sion to have the body washed. The permission costs nothing, 
but the porter who delivers it has some perquisite, greater or 
smaller according to the rank and abilities of those who desire 
it. This paper is carried to the mordichour , or body-washer, 
which is an office, he alone, or those whom he appoints, can 
perform, in order that the number of the dead may be known, 
and the particular distemper of which they died. The said 
mordichour sends men to wash the corpses of men, and 
women to wash the corpses of women. The washer takes 
off the clothes from the corpse, they being his perquisites, for 
no one can touch a dead person without being defiled, and he 
carries it to the washing-place. There are such places in 
every town, situated in a retired and covered part of it. Ispa¬ 
han, for instance, being divided into two parts, has two mordi- 
chours; and amongst other washing-places, there is a very 
large one in a back court of the old Mosque, twenty steps un¬ 
der ground. This is done only to the poor, for the rich are 
washed at home in a basin covered with a tent, lest any one 
should see the corpse. When it is washed, all the openings 
are stopped up closely with cotton, to keep in the foul humours, 
which might defile it. 

“ This being over, the body is put into a new linen cloth, 
on which, those who can afford it, cause some passages of 
their holy books to be written. Some contain the Youchen, a 
book concerning the attributes of God, to the number of a thou¬ 
sand and one; which odd reckoning is to show the infinite 
perfections of God, which are not to be comprehended by a 
thousand ideas, more than by one. The linen about the corpse 
of Saroutaky, a eunuch grand vizier, who was murdered in 


152 


RELIGIOUS TENETS, &C. 


the reign of Abas II., contained the whole Koran written with 
holy earth steeped in water and gum. They call holy earth, 
that of those places of Arabia which the Mahometans look 
upon as consecrated by the bodies of the saints who died there. 

“ In this condition, the corpse is placed in a remote part of 
the house, and if it is to be carried to some distant burying- 
place, the)' - put it in a wooden coffin, filled with salt, lime, and 
perfumes, to preserve it. No other embalming is used in the 
East. They do not take out the bowels, a practice apparently 
to them uncleanly and wicked. Persia being a hot, dry 
country, the bodies are soon put into their coffins, otherwise 
it would not be possible to accomplish it, because they swell 
immoderately in eight or ten hours. The funerals are not 
accompanied in the East with much pomp. A molla comes 
with the coffin of the next mosque, an ill-contrived, rough, un¬ 
hewn, and ill-jointed box, made up of three boards, with a 
cover which turns by a peg; the corpse is put into it, and if 
the deceased were poor, carried off without any further cere¬ 
mony ; only the bearers go with it, very fast and almost run¬ 
ning, and pronouncing slowly the words Alla , Alla! that is, 
God , God .' 

“ At the funeral of a person of quality, or one who is rich, 
the ensigns or banners of the mosque are carried before the 
corpse: they are long pikes of different sorts; some have at 
the end a hand of brass or copper, which is called the hand of 
Ali; others a half-moon; others the names of Mahomet, of his 
daughters, and of his twelve first lawful successors, done in 
cyphers; the latter are called Tcharde Massoum, that is, the 
fourteen pure and holy ones. More poles are still carried, at 
the top of which are put some brass or iron plates, three fingers 
broad, and three or four feet long, but so thin that the least 
motion makes them bend; to them are tied long slips of taffety, 
which hang down to the ground. These banners are follow' 
ed by five or six led horses, with the arms and turban of the 
deceased: next to them comes the Sirpare, or the Koran, di¬ 
vided into thirty guisve or parts, written in large characters, 
each letter being an inch in size. The chief mosques have a 
similar one; thirty talebelme , or students, carry each one part, 
and read it, so that the whole is read over, before the body be 
put into the grave. At the burial of a woman, the tcharcha- 
dour, that is, a pall, supported on four long sticks, is placed 
oyer the coffin. This is the greatest funeral pomp, which the 
friends and relations cannot exceed, unless by an addition of 
each sort of standards, &c. 

“ The neighbours or servants of the deceased carry the 


OF THE MAHOMETANS. 


153 


corpse, no bearers being appointed to perform that last duty ; 
but the Mahometan law teaches its followers to grant their as¬ 
sistance, and carry the coffin at least ten steps. Persons of 
note alight when they meet a funeral, comply with that pious 
custom, and then remount and proceed on their journey. They 
do not bury any one in their mosques, because though the 
corpse be purified, yet whatever it touches, or the place in 
which it is put, is looked upon as defiled. 

“ In small towns, the burying places are on the road-side, 
without the gates, as a moral instruction to the living: but in 
great towns, which are situate in a dry air, several church¬ 
yards are to be seen. The graves are smaller in Persia than 
in other countries, only two feet broad, six in length, and four 
in depth. On that side of them which is towards Mecca, they 
dig a slanting vault, which is as long and broad as the first 
grave; they thrust the corpse into it without a coffin, the face 
towards Mecca, and place two tiles to cover the head from the 
earth, when the grave is filled up. If the deceased were rich, 
or a warrior, his turban, sword, bow, and quiver full of arrows, 
are set by him, and the vault is plastered up with tiles. The 
Sahieds, who pretend to be the descendants of Mahomet, have 
no earth thrown upon them, their grave is covered only with 
a stone or brick, or that sort of hard brown marble which is 
common in Persia. 

“ Stones are erected at the end of each tomb, with a turban, if 
it be a man’s grave; but plain, if a woman’s. These tomb¬ 
stones ought not to exceed the height of four feet; commonly 
they are but two feet high: the* inscription on them does not 
declare the name nor praises of the deceased, it only contains 
some passages of the Koran. The common people begin to 
visit the grave at the end of eight or ten days; the women 
particularly never fail: the church-yards are full of them, 
morning and evening, and on some particular festivals ; they 
bring their children with them, and lament the loss of their 
friends with tears and cries, beating their breasts, tearing their 
hair, scratching their faces, repeating the several dialogues 
and long discourses which they heretofore held with the de¬ 
ceased: every now and then saying, Rouh, Rouh , soul, spirit, 
whither are you gone ? Why do you not animate this body 1 
And you, corpse, what occasion had you to die ? Did you 
want gold, silver, clothes , pleasures, or tender treatment ? 
They are then comforted, and led away by their friends: 
sometimes they leave behind them cakes, fruits, sweetmeats, as 
an offering to the angels, guardians of the grave, to engage 
them to be favourable to the deceased. 


154 


RELIGIOUS TENETS, &C. 


“People of quality generally order their corpse to be buried 
near some great saint of their sect. They are seldom carried 
to Mecca or Medina, they being at too great a distance; but 
either to Negef, a town in the country, called Kerbela, where 
Ali, the grand saint of Persia, lies interred; or to Metched, 
near the grave of Imam Reza, or to Com near Fatime, (both 
were descendants of Ali,) or to Ardevil, near Cheik Sephy, at 
the distance of two or three month’s journey. Whilst they 
prepare themselves for this long voyage, the coffin is put in 
some great mosque, \\ here vaults are made for that purpose, 
which are walled up to keep the body from being seen; and 
they do not take it out, till every thing be ready to carry it off. 
The Persians fancy that corpses, under those circumstances, 
suffer no alteration; for, they say, before they putrify, they 
must give an account to the angels, who stay at the grave to 
examine them. The funeral convoy never goes through a 
town ; this, as they think, would be a bad omen ; the dead 
Must go out , but not come in, is a common saying amongst 
the Persians. 

“ The mourning lasts forty days at most; it does not consist 
in wearing black clothes, (that colour is looked upon in the 
east as the devil’s colour, and a hellish dress,) but in loud cries 
and lamentations, in sitting without motion, half-clad with a 
brown gown or one of a pale colour ; in fasting for eight days, 
as if they were resolved to live no longer. Other friends send 
or come themselves to comfort the mourners. On the ninth 
day, the men go to the bagnio, have their head and beard 
shaved, put on new clothes, return their visits, and the mourn¬ 
ing' ceases abroad; but at home the cries are renewed now 
and then, twice or thrice a week, chiefly at the hour of the 
death. These cries diminish gradually till the fortieth day; 
after which, no further mention is made of the deceased. The 
women are not so easily comforted, for the state of widowhood 
is generally for life in the east. 

“ The motives of consolation alleged in Persia on the death 
of friends and relations are rational, and grounded on solid 
philosophy. They compare this life to a caravan, or a com¬ 
pany of travellers ; all come at last to the caravansary or inn ; 
yet some arrive sooner, some later.” 

Friday is kept holy by Mahometans, as the Saturday is by 
the Jews, and Sunday by the Christians; either upon account 

Festivals. °| ^e entry of Mahomet into Medina, or because 
God completed the creation on that day, or rather 
out of policy ; this being the day on which the ancient Ara¬ 
bians held their public and solemn meetings. Whatever may 


OF THE MAHOMETANS. 


155 


have been the cause of the sanctification of that day, it is cer¬ 
tain that Mahomet always kept it holy ; for, as Abulpharage 
observes, the real motive of establishing festivals was in order, 
by public assemblies, to render the people more united, and to 
have some rest from their labours. The Mahometans are, 
however, very profuse in their praises on that clay, which they 
call the “ chief and most excellent of all days,” for on it, it is 
supposed, that the last judgment will take place. 

Their months are twelve, alternately of thirty and twenty- 
nine days, in all 354. According to which computation, their 
year is eleven days shorter than ours; which inconvenience 
is remedied by adding a month at proper periods. We shall 
here observe, that by the most exact computation, the Maho¬ 
metan Hejira began July the 16th, in the year of Christ 622. 
The names of the months are, 1. Moharram. 2. Saphar. 
3. Rabia the First. 4. A Second Rabia. 5. Sjumada the 
First. 6. A Second Sjumada. 7. Resjeb. 8. Siaban. 9. Rha- 
madan. 10. Sjewal. 11. Dulkadha. 12. Dsulkassja, or 
Dulhaggia. 

Four of them, viz. Moharram, Resjeb, Dulkadha, and Dul¬ 
haggia, were looked upon as sacred by the ancient Arabians. 
No war nor hostility was lawful, if begun or carried on in 
these months ; and the majority of the Arabian tribes observed 
this law so punctually, that even the murderer of their father 
or brother was not to be punished, nor any violence offered to 
him at that time. Dulhaggia was sanctified by the Pilgrimage 
of Mecca, Dulkadha as a preparation to it, and Moharram as 
coming from it: Resjeb was held still in greater veneration, 
being kept as a fast by the Arabian idolaters, who, on the con¬ 
trary, spent the month Rhamadan in debauchery and drunk¬ 
enness. Mahomet seems to approve of this institution of the 
sacred months in his Koran, in which he blames those Ara¬ 
bians who, being tired with living so long without robbing, 
deferred of their own authority, the sanctification of Moharram 
to the month following. To defeat the artful proceedings of 
these men, he enforces the keeping of the said three months, 
except in case of a war against infidels. 

The first Feast of which we shall take notice is the Moon, 
of the month SjeAval, because the Bairain celebrated in that 
month has some affinity with our new year, by Feagt tQ the 
the good wishes and congratulations then in use moon - 
with the Mahometans. This Bairam follows 
the Rhamadan fast, as Easter does that of Lent, and the Mus- 
sulmen begin it by a solemn and general reconciliation, as 
our Easter is remarkable by the Paschal Communion. They 


156 


RELIGIOUS TENETS, &C. 


have two Bairams, the greater one, which we are now de¬ 
scribing. and the less, which takes place seventy days after¬ 
wards, viz. on the 10th of Dulhaggia. The latter is called 
the Feast of Sacrifices, on account of the victims offered during 
the pilgrimage of Mecca. The Bairam is published, at the 
first sight of the moon of Sjewal, or, if the weather be so cloudy 
that the moon cannot be seen, as expected, the feast begins on 
the following day ; for in that case, they suppose the moon is 
changed. Amongst the numerous diversions then in use, seats 
are set in the streets, and contrived in such a manner that those 
who sit in them may swing in the air, accordingly as they are 
pushed faster or slower. These seats are adorned with seve¬ 
ral festoons. They have also wheels, on which people are 
alternately at the top, middle, and bottom. The night betwixt 
the 4th and 5th day of Resjeb is solemnized, on account of the 
Rhamadan Fast, though it happens two whole months after¬ 
wards. The night from the 26th to the 27th of the second 
Rabia is sacred, because Mahomet went then to heaven upon 
the Borak, in the same manner as the birth of the Prophet has 
occasioned the keeping holy the night of the eleventh to the 
twelfth of Rabia the First. The Rhamadan is, according to 
travellers, a mixture of devotion and debauchery. It begins 
with a kind of carnival, which Thevenot, who Avas an eye¬ 
witness, describes in the following words:—“The 12tn of 
June, 1657, was the Turk’s ca7*nival, or beginning of their 
fast. It is called Laylet el Kouvat , that is, the Night of Pow¬ 
er , because the Mahometans believe that the Koran then came 
down from heaven. After sunset, lamps are lighted in all the 
streets, chiefly in that called Bazaar, a long, broad, and strait 
street, through which the procession marches. Ropes are 
hung every ten steps, to which are tied iron hoops and bas¬ 
kets, each holding several lamps, thirty at the least. All these 
being in a direct line, furnish a fine prospect, and give a great 
light. Besides these several figures, the towers or minarets 
of the mosques are likewise illuminated. An infinite number 
of people crowd the streets, and with the Santons, &c., who 
make part of the ceremony, repair to the Cadilcsquer, who in¬ 
forms them whether the Ramesan is to be kept that evening. 
Being informed that the moon has been seen, and that this is 
the night appointed for the solemnity, about two hours in the 
night, the Santons on foot, and armed with clubs, begin the 
march, each of them holding a taper in his hand, accompani¬ 
ed with other men carrying cresset-lights. They dance, sing, 
bawl, and howl; in the midst of them Scheik-el-Arsat, that is, 

' f he Prince of the Cornutos,’ rides upon a mule; as he passes 


Of I HE MAHOMETANS. 


157 


them, the people make loud acclamations. After him several 
men come upon camels, with drums, kettle-drums, &c., followed 
by others in masquerade-dress, on foot, carrying cresset-lights, 
or long poles, at the end of which are large iron hoops filled 
with squibs and fireworks, which are thrown amongst the 
mob. Next to these, the men of the beys proceed on horse¬ 
back with their hand-guns, &c., and the procession is closed 
by other Santons, who celebrate by their songs the beginning 
of Ramesan. The whole assembly is composed of scoundrels 
met together, yet it is on the whole comical and diverting.” 
Their fast continues the whole moon, and whilst it lasts, eat¬ 
ing, drinking, even smoking, and putting any thing into their 
mouths, is absolutely forbidden from sunrise to sunset; but in 
recompense, they are allowed, during the whole of the night, 
to eat and drink whatever they please without any restraint, 
with the exception of wine. Formerly, the law punished 
those who were convicted of drinking wine, by pouring 
melted lead into their throats. 

The Persians have three feasts peculiar to themselves, viz. 
the next day after their Lent, the sacrifice of Abraham, and 
the martyrdom of the children of their great Persian 
prophet Ali. To these religious festivals, a fourth Feasts, 
must be added, which is a civil ceremony, at the 
beginning of the new year, and usually'lasts three days; but 
at court it is kept eight days successively. On the first day of 
the month Zilaje, (Dulhaggia,) at the moment of the sun’s 
entering into Aries, this festival is proclaimed. It is called 
the Royal or Imperial New Year, to distinguish it from the 
real new year, which the Persians begin on the day of Ma¬ 
homet’s flight from Mecca. Chardin gives a full account of 
this feast, but we shall merely notice, that it had grown into 
disuse for many years, but was re-established from a principle 
of policy or superstition, or from the interested views of some 
astronomers, who were very powerful at court, and who pre¬ 
tended that the beginning of a solar year was a better omen 
than that of a lunar year, especially considering that the first 
ten days of it, and of the month Moharram, are days of mourn¬ 
ing, in memory of the martyrdom of Ali’s children. 

This last mentioned solemnity is better known by the name 
of Hussein, or Hossein’s Feast. He was son of Ali and of 
Fatima, daughter to Mahomet, and was killed in . , 

a battle, which he lost, disputing for the dignity Fe ^ ssien 
of Khalif. Hassein, his brother, lost his life 
with him. The death of these Mahometan prophets, or heroes, 
is still mourned for, where some are seen half naked, and 
14 


158 


RELIGIOUS TENETS, &C. 


Present 

state. 


daubed over with blood, in memory of their tragical end; 
others black their faces and loll out their tongue, with convul¬ 
sive motions of the body and rolling their eyes, because these 
two brothers, as the Persian legend relates, suffered so much 
by drought that they became black, and their tongues came out 
of their mouths. In the intervals of those pious contortions, 
they call aloud Avith all their might, Hussein! Hussein! 
Hussein! Hussein! 

The present state and extent of the Mahometan religion is 
most amply delineated by Mr. Mills, in the last chapter of his 
excellent book; in which he traces it through 
the extensi\ r e regions of Tartary; the vast em¬ 
pire of China; the various districts of Hindoos- 
tan; from the southernmost point of which this religion is 
traced through the eastern islands; along the coasts of the 
Malayan peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, the Manillas, and 
the Celebezean islands. The little isle of Goram, one of the 
Spice islands, (between Ceram and Papua,) is the eastern 
boundarjr of the Mahometan world. 

The sword of the Mahometans has for ages ceased to alarm 
the world, and the fire of their fanaticism has been spent; but 
their religion has suffered no visible diminution of followers: 
for although the Christians have triumphed over the Moors in 
Spain, and checked the advancement of Islamism in Siberia, 
yet, in the middle and loAver Asia, and also in Africa, the pro¬ 
fessors of the Moslem’s creed have gradually increased. It 
is impossible to estimate, Avith any approach to accuracy, the 
number either of Mussulmen or of Christians; but, consider¬ 
ing for a moment the subject of religion in a geographical 
sense, it may be generally remarked, that as Christianity has 
unlimited influence in Europe, so Islamism is the dominant 
religion in Asia; and that, as the Christian faith has consider¬ 
able Aveight in America, Mahometanism has its proportionate 
sway in Africa. 


GREEK CHURCH TROTER. 


159 


PART III 


RELIGIOUS TENETS, CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS OF THE 
GREEK AND ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES. 

CHAPTER I.—GREEK CHURCH. 

SEC. I.-GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 

The Greek Church may he considered, in regard to its an¬ 
tiquity, as coeval with the Roman or Latin church, and for 
the first eight centuries, the two churches were G ree ] c church 
assimilated, not only in regard to the peculiar coeval with 
doctrines of their faith, but also to their acknow- the Latin 
ledgment of the supremacy of the Roman pontiff cllurc k 
The schism of these two churches is a most memorable epoch 
in ecclesiastical history, as it forms the most distinguishing 
picture of the two religions at the present day. The mem¬ 
bers of the Greek or eastern church, as contra-distinguished 
to the Roman or western church, are to be found in various 
parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and are again subdivided 
into three distinct classes. 1st. Those who agree on all points 
of worship and doctrine, with the patriarch of Constantino¬ 
ple, and reject the supremacy of the Roman pontiff 2d. 
Those who adopt the doctrines and ceremonies of the Greek 
church, and are entirely independent of the. patriarch of Con¬ 
stantinople : and, 3d. those who are still subject to the see of 
Rome, though not conforming in all points to the worship of 
that church. 

The Greek church is considered as a separation from the 
Latin. In the middle of the ninth century, the controversy 
relating to the procession of the Holy Ghost 
(which had been started in the sixth century) be- Rise and se- 
came a point of great importance, on account of paration of. 
the jealousy and ambition which at that time were 
blended with it. Photius, the patriarch of Jerusalem, having 
been advanced to that see in the room of Ignatius, whom he 
procured to be deposed, was solemnly excommunicated by 
Pope Nicholas, in a council held at Rome, and his ordi¬ 
nation declared null and void. The Greek emperor resented 



ICO 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER, 


this conduct of the pope, who defended himself with great 
spirit and resolution. Photius, in his turn, convened what 
he called an oecumenical council, in which he pronounced 
sentence of excommunication and deposition against the pope, 
and got it subscribed by twenty-one bishops and others, amount¬ 
ing in number to a thousand. This occasioned a wide breach 
between the sees of Rome and Constantinople. However, the 
death of the Emperor Michael, and the deposition of Photius, 
subsequent thereupon, seem to have restored peace; for the em¬ 
peror Basil held a council at Constantinople, in the year 869, in 
which entire satisfaction was given to pope Adrian; but the 
schism was only smothered and suppressed for a while. The 
Greek church had several complaints against the Latin ; par¬ 
ticularly it was thought a* great hardship for the Greeks to 
subscribe to the definition of a council according to the Roman 
form, prescribed by the pope, since it made the church of Con¬ 
stantinople dependant on that of Rome, and set the pope above 
an oecumenical council; but, above all, the pride and haughti¬ 
ness of the Roman court gave the Greeks a great distaste; 
and as their deportment seemed to insult his Imperial Majes¬ 
ty, it entirely alienated the affections of the Emperor Basil. 
Towards the middle of the eleventh century, Michael Ceru- 
larius, patriarch of Constantinople, opposed the Latins with 
respect to their making use of unleavened bread in the eucha- 
rist, their observation of the sabbath, and fasting on Saturdays, 
charging them with living in communion with the Jews. To 
this Pope Leo IX. replied ; and, in his apology for the Latins, 
declaimed very warmly against the false doctrine of the 
Greeks, and interposed, at the same time, the authority of his 
see. He likewise, by his legates, excommunicated the patri¬ 
arch in the church of Santa Sophia, which gave the last 
shock to the reconciliation attempted a long time after, but to 
no purpose; for from that time the hatred of the Greeks to 
the Latins, and of the Latins to the Greeks, became insuper¬ 
able, insomuch that they have continued ever since separated 
from each other’s communion.* 

As the numerous sects which are now subsisting in the 
Levant are of Greek origin, and as their principles and cere- 
State of the monies, except in some few particular points, are 
Greek church, nearly the same, it will be necessary to treat on 
the religion of the Greeks (properly so called) before we de¬ 
scend to the different branches that have issued from it. 

The Greek Church, which is now dependant on the patri- 

I 

* Buck’s Theolog. Die. Art. Greek Church. 


GREEK CIIURCII TROPER. 


161 


arch of Constantinople, was not formerly so extensive as it 
has been since the emperors of the East thought proper to 
lessen or reduce the other patriarchates, in order to aggrandize 
that of Constantinople; a task which they accomplished with 
the greater ease, as they were much more powerful than the 
emperors of the West, and had little or no regard to the con¬ 
sent of the patriarchs in order to create new bishoprics, or to 
confer new titles and privileges. Whereas, in the western 
church, the popes, by slow degrees, made themselves the sole 
arbiters in all ecclesiastical concerns ; insomuch that princes 
themselves at length became obliged to have recourse to them, 
and were subservient to their directions on every momentous 
occasion. 

There are several catalogues or lists, now extant, of the 
churches which are dependant on that of Constantinople; but 
as most of them are very ancient, and do not sufficiently illus¬ 
trate the vast extent of which that church at present boasts, 
we shall not quote any of them in this place; but merely state, 
that the number of metropolitans amounts to upwards of one 
hundred bishoprics. 

The Greek churches at present deserve not even the name 
of the shadow of what they were in their former flourishing 
state, when they were so remarkably distinguished for the 
learned and worthy pastors who presided over them; but now 
nothing but wretchedness, ignorance, and poverty, are visible 
amongst them. “ I have seen churches,” says Ricaut, “ which 
were more like caverns or sepulchres than places set apart for 
divine worship; the tops thereof being almost level with the 
ground. They are erected after this humble manner for fear 
they should be suspected, if they raised them any considerable 
height, of an evil intention to rival the Turkish mosques.” 
It is, indeed, very surprising, that in the abject state to which 
the Greeks at present are reduced, the Christian religion 
should maintain the least footing amongst them. Their no¬ 
tions of Christianity are principally confined to the traditions 
of their forefathers and their own received customs; and, 
among other things, they are much addicted to external acts 
of piety and devotion, such as the observance of fasts, festi¬ 
vals, and penances: they revere and dread the censures of 
their clergy; and are bigoted slaves to their religious customs, 
which have been irrefutably proved to be absurd and ridicu¬ 
lous; and yet it must be acknowledged, that although these 
errors reflect a considerable degree of scandal and reproach 
upon the holy religion they profess, they nevertheless prevent 
it from being entirely lost and abolished amongst them. A fire 
14 * * 


162 


GREEK CIIURCII PROPER. 


which lies for a time concealed under a heap of embers, may 
revive and burn again as bright as ever: and the same hope 
may be conceived of truth, when obscured by the dark clouds 
of ignorance and error. 

Tenets of the I. They rebaptize all those Latins who are ad- 
Greek church, mitted into their communion.. 

II. They do not baptize their children till they are three, 
four, five, six, ten, and even sometimes eighteen years of age. 

III. They exclude Confirmation and Extreme Unction out 
of the Seven Sacraments. 

IV. They deny there is any such place as Purgatory, not¬ 
withstanding they pray for the dead. 

V. They do not absolutely acknowledge the Pope’s supre¬ 
macy, nor that of the Church of Rome, which they look upon 
as fallen from her supremacy, because, as a Greek schismatic 
historian expresses himself, she had abandoned the doctrines 
of her fathers. 

VI. They deny, by consequence, that the Church of Rome 
is the true Catholic mother Church. They even prefer their 
own to that of Rome, and on Holy Thursday excommunicate 
the Pope and all the Latin prelates as heretics and schisma¬ 
tics, praying that all those who offer up unleavened bread in 
the celebration of the Sacrament, may be covered with con¬ 
fusion. 

VII. They deny that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the 
Father and the Son. 

VIII. They refuse to worship the Host consecrated by 
Latin priests with unleavened bread, according to the ancient 
custom of the Church of Rome, confirmed by the Council of 
Florence. Thejr likewise wash the altars on which the 
Latins have celebrated mass; and will not suffer a Latin 
priest to officiate at their altars, pretending that the sacrifice 
ought to be performed with leavened bread. 

IX. They assert, that the usual form of words, wherein 
the Consecration, according to the Latins, wholly consists, is 
not sufficient to change the bread and wine into the body and 
blood of Christ, without the use of some additional prayers 
and benedictions of the fathers. 

X. They insist that the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper 
ought to be administered in both kinds to infants, even before 
they are capable of distinguishing this spiritual food from 
any other ; because it is a divine institution. For which rea¬ 
son they give the Sacrament to infants immediately after bap¬ 
tism, and look upon the Latins as heretics for not observing 
the same custom. 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


163 


XI. They hold, that the laity are under an indispensable 
obligation, by the law of God, to receive the Communion in 
both kinds, and look on the Latins as heretics, who maintain 
the contrary. 

XII. They assert, that no members of the Church, when 
they have attained, to years of discretion, ought to be compelled 
to receive the Communion every Easter; but should have free 
liberty to act according to the dictates of their own conscience. 

XIII. They show no respect, no religious homage, nor 
veneration f©-}’ the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, even at 
the celebrat; m of.their own priests; and use no lighted tapers 
when they a Iminister it to the sick. Moreover, they keep it 
in a little bag or box, without any farther ceremony than fixing 
it to the wall, where they light up lamps before their images. 

XIV. They are of opinion that such Hosts as are conse¬ 
crated on Holy Thursday, are much more efficacious than 

those consecrated at other times. 

/ 

XV. They maintain that the Sacrament of Matrimony is a 
union which may be dissolved. For which reason, they 
charge the Church of Rome with being guilty of an error, 
in asserting that the bonds of marriage can never be broken, 
even in case of adultery, and that no person upon any provo¬ 
cation whatsoever can lawfully marry again. But the Greeks 
preach up a wholly different doctrine, and practise it daily. 

XVI. They condemn ail fourth marriages. . 

XVII. They refuse to celebrate the solemnities instituted 
by the church and the primitive Fathers, in honour of the 
Virgin Mary and the Apostles ; and, independently of their 
different manner of celebrating them, they wholly neglect 
and despise the observance of several Saints’-days which are 
of ancient institution. They reject likewise the religious use 
of graven images and statues, although they admit of pic¬ 
tures in their churches. 

XVIII. They insist that the canon of the mass of the La¬ 
tins ought to be abolished, as being full of errors. 

XIX. They deny that usury is a mortal sin. 

XX. They deny that the subdeaconry is at present a holy 
order. 

XXI. Of all the general councils that have been held in 
the Catholic Church by the popes at different times, they pay 
no regard to any after the sixth, and reject not only the 
seventh, which was the second held at Nice, for the express 
purpose of condemning those who rejected the use of images 
in their divine worship, but all those which have succeeded 
it, by which they refuse to submit to any of their institutions. 


164 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


XXII. They deny auricular confession to be a divine precept, 
and pretend it is only a positive injunction of the Church. 

XXIII. They insist that the confession of the laity ought 
to be free and voluntary ; for which reason they are not com¬ 
pelled to confess themselves annually, nor are they excommu¬ 
nicated for the neglect of it. 

XXIV. They insist that in confession there is no divine 
law which enjoins the acknowledgment of every individual 
sin, or a discovery of all the circumstances that attend it, 
which alter its nature and property. 

XXV. They administer the sacrament to their laity both 
in sickness and in health, though they have never applied 
themselves to their confessors ; and the reason of which is, 
that they are persuaded all confessions should be free and vo¬ 
luntary, and that a lively faith is all the preparation that is re¬ 
quisite for the worthy receiving of the Sacrament of the Lord’s 
"Supper. 

XXVI. They look down with an eye of disdain on the 
Latins for their observance of the vigils before the nativity of 
our Blessed Saviour, and the festivals of the Virgin Mary and 
the Apostles, as well as for their fasting in Ember-week. 
They even affect to eat meat more plentifully at those times 
than at any other, to testify their contempt of the Latin cus* 
toms. They prohibit likewise all fasting on Saturdays, that 
preceding Easter only excepted. 

XXVII. They condemn the Latins as heretics, for eating 
such things as have been strangled, and such other meats as 
are prohibited in the Old Testament. 

XXVIII. They deny that simple fornication is a mortal 
sin. 

XXIX. They insist that it is lawful to deceive an enemy, 
and that it is no sin to injure and oppress him. 

XXX. They are of opinion, that in order to be saved, 
there is no necessity to make restitution of such goods as 
have been stolen or fraudulently obtained. 

XXXI. To conclude: they hold that such as have been 
admitted into holy orders may become laymen at pleasure. 
From whence it plainly appears, that they do not allow the 
character of the priesthood to be indelible. To which it may 
be added, that they approve of the marriage of their priests, 
provided they enter into that state before their admission into 
holy orders, though they are never indulged in that respect 
after their ordination. 

The Patriarch of Constantinople assumes the honourable 
title of Universal or (Ecumenical Patriarch, As he pur- 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


165 


chases his commission of the Grand Seignior, it 
may be easily supposed that he makes a tyran- r , Patrlar . ch oi 
nical and simoniacai use of a privilege which he pi e . 
holds himself by simony. The Patriarch and 
bishops are always single men; but the priests are indulged 
in marriage before ordination ; and this custom, which is gene¬ 
rally practised all over the Levant, is very ancient. Should 
a priest happen to marry after ordination, he can officiate no 
longer as pris:\ ? which is conformable to the injunctions of 
the council of Neocesarea; the marriage, however, is not 
looked upon as invalid; whereas in the Latin Church, such 
marriages are pronounced void and of no effect, because the 
priesthood is looked upon as a lawful bar, or impediment. 

Their Pappas, or secular priests, not having any settled and 
competent livings, are obliged to subsist by simoniacai prac¬ 
tices. “ The clergy,” says Ricaut, “are almost 
compelled to sell those divine mysteries which p r ?^PP as or 
are entrusted to their care. No one, therefore, 
can procure absolution, be admitted to confession, have his 
children baptised, be married or divorced, or obtain an excom¬ 
munication against his adversary, or the communion in time 
of sickness, without first paying down a valuable considera¬ 
tion. The priests make the best market they can, and fix a 
price on their spiritual commodities in proportion to the devo¬ 
tion or abilities of their respective customers;” added to which, 


they are so avaricious and rigid with their parishioners, that 
they will scarcely part with a single drop of holy water with¬ 
out being paid for it beforehand. 

The Greek Church has no established fund for the mainte¬ 
nance of their clergy; they subsist therefore by the levying of 
some certain duties, and by the charity and benevolence of 
well-disposed Christians. Each parish is obliged to maintain 
its own curate. Every house is assessed at a certain annual 
sum, which must be paid in money or effects. Each diocese 
is likewise taxed for the more honourable support of its bishop, 
&c.; but the avarice and illegal practices of the collectors 
countenance and encourage the petty shifts and evasions which 
are daily practised to elude them. Regarding the charity of 
the people, it is so very cold and languid, that it seems almost 
a sufficient plea for the simoniacai practices of the clergy. 

A monastic life is held in great veneration among Monastic 

the Greeks; and although there are monks of life held in 
different orders among them, yet all of them great venera- 
owe their origin to St. Basil, who was the sole tloa ' 
founder of the monastic state. 


106 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


Principal 

orders. 


Anchorets. 


The two principal are styled the Grand and Angelical 
Habit , and the Lesser Habit. Those belonging to the former 
are persons of worth and distinction, and who 
prefer to lead a more righteous life than the rest. 
Monks of the Lesser Habit are inferior persons, 
who do not pretend to lead such sanctified lives. The latter 
live uncontrolled, and are left to their own discretion; for 
which reason, before they take up the habit, they deposite a 
certain sum of money for a cell, or small apartment, and other 
accommodations, belonging to the convent. The procurator 
or steward indeed supplies them with bread and wine, in the 
same manner as the rest, but in every other respect they pro¬ 
vide for themselves; and being thus free from all the incum¬ 
brances of a convent, each one pursues his own particular affairs. 

There is a third order, who are known and distinguished 
by the name of Anchorets; and though they do not choose to 
work, nor to perform the other duties of the con¬ 
vent, they are still very desirous of passing their 
lives in solitude and retirement. They purchase, therefore, a 
cell, or a little commodious apartment exterior to the convent, 
with a small spot of ground contiguous to it, sufficient to main¬ 
tain them; and they never attend the convent but on solemn 
festivals, on which days they assist at the celebration of divine 
service. As soon as their public devotions are over, they re 
turn to their cells, and spend their time in the pursuit of their 
customary avocations, without being confined to any set time 
for their prayers, or other acts of private devotion. There are 
some of these anchorets, however, who retire altogether from 
the convent with the license and approbation of their abbot, 
in order to live still more retired, and to apply themselves 
more closely to prayer and contemplation. Having no grounds 
nor vineyards of their own to improve, the convent sends them, 
once at least, if not twice a month, a stated allowance. Those, 
however, w r ho decline being dependant on, or pensioners to the 
abbot, rent some small vineyards situate near their cells, and 
maintain themselves out of the profits and product of them. 
Some live upon figs, some upon cherries, and others upon such 
wholesome fruits of a similar nature, which they can most 
commodiously procure. Some sow beans in their proper sea¬ 
son ; and others earn their bread by transcribing books or 
manuscripts. 

Besides these monks, there are likewise nuns, who form 
themselves into communities. They are confined in convents, 
and live subject to the rule of St. Basil. They 
are in no degree inferior to the monks, with 


Nuns. 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


167 


respect to their abstemious course of life, their penances, fasts, 
prayers, and other acts of devotion, which are in general prac¬ 
tised by recluses. 

These nuns in general wear the same habit, which is black, 
with a woollen gown of the same colour. Their arms and 
hands are covered to their yery finger’s ends. Their heads 
are all shaved close; and each of them has a separate resi¬ 
dence, with a commodious room above and below. Those who 
are in good circumstances are allowed to keep a servant, and 
sometimes they entertain young ladies in their society, and train 
them up in the practice of piety. After the customary duties 
are over, their leisure hours are advantageously spent in all 
manner of curious needlework. 

The fasts""of the Greeks are quite different from those of 
the Latins ; for those of the latter are festival days when com¬ 
pared with the former; inasmuch as they not 
only abstain from eating the flesh of animals, Fasts, 
and their produce, such as butter and cheese; 
but they eat no manner of fish, and content themselves with 
fruits and herbs, to which they put a drop or two of oil; allow¬ 
ing themselves but a very small quantity of wine. The 
monks are still more rigorous ; for they never taste a drop of 
wine nor oil, except on Saturdays and Sundays. 

The Greek monks, according to Angelus, are obliged to 
fast three days, that is, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 
in every week. On which days, about two in the afternoon 
they go to prayers; after that, they take some small refresh¬ 
ment, which principally consists of a few beans, with a little 
broth, without either oil or butter, or some other relished roots, 
with a small quantity of vinegar. In the evening, they re¬ 
sume their prayers ; when service is over, they seat themselves 
round about the church, and the procurator distributes to each 
man a slice of bread and a glass of water. This indulgence, 
however, is shown only to the junior monks; the seniors have 
no share in this distribution. After a short interval they re¬ 
turn to their public devotions, which last about half an hour, 
and sometimes an hour. On going out of the church, they 
pass in review before their superior, or principal, who stands 
at the church-door, and ask his blessing, which he gives to 
each of them in the following terms, God be 'propitious to thee , 
•my soul After this benediction, each retires to his own cell, 
without speaking a single word upon any occasion. By their 
rule they are enjoined, after this, to spend a whole hour on 
their knees in private prayer. This exercise of devotion is 
followed by a very short repose; for about midnight, or soon 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


168 

after, they rise again, and attend their public prayers, which 
are not over till break of day; at which time every one with¬ 
draws to his particular avocations, till some short interval be¬ 
fore dinner 5 which is spent again at church in public devo¬ 
tions. As soon as dinner is served, the monks beg their abbot 
or superior’s blessing, who stands at the upper end of the table. 
If any monk has had the misfortune to oversleep himself, and 
comes too late to church in the morning, as a penance for his 
indolence and neglect he is ordered to stand at the lower end 01 
the table, and there repeat over and over with an audible voice, 
but with a humble and contrite heart, these words, Have com¬ 
passion, OLord, on thy unworthy servant, according to thy infi¬ 
nite goodness and mercy ! till the monks are risen from table, 
and are ready to go away. Then the penitent prostrates himself 
with his face to the very ground, imploring forgiveness in this 
humble posture, and crying out, Oh! holy fathers, pray for 
me, who am a, poor sinful sluggard! whereupon they with 
one voice reply, God forgive you, my brother ! After which 
they all depart, except the poor penitent, who stays behind and 
dines by himself: none are exempted from this penance, from 
the highest to the lowest. 

The Moscovites, however, having neither wine nor oil, are 
indulged in eating flesh. They abstain from eating flesh, 
butter, and cheese, on Wednesdays and Fridays, but have the 
free use of fish. The Greeks and other eastern nations cen¬ 
sure the Latins very severely for fasting on Saturdays; since 
that day, in their opinion, is a festival, as well as Sunday ; and 
this they endeavour to prove from their ancient canons, and 
the practice of the primitive Christians. In short, with re¬ 
spect to ceremonies, it may be said in general, that they ob¬ 
serve a much greater number than any other Christian coun¬ 
try whatsoever. The veneration which they pay to images 
is boundless and extravagant. Upon a solemn festival they 
plant the image of the saint to whom that day is devoted, in 
the centre of the church ; which statue, or picture, is always 
an historical representation of some remarkable transaction 
which they then commemorate: as for instance, the nativity, 
or resurrection of our Blessed Saviour : at which time every 
devotee then present salutes the image; and this religious 
adoration is not performed by falling down on their knees, 
prostration, or any other particular gesticulations of the body ; 
but by barely kissing the image. If it happens to be a repre¬ 
sentation of our Blessed Lord, they kiss his feet, if of the Vir¬ 
gin Mary, they salute her hands; and if it be only the image 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 160 

of some memorable saint, they approach him with more fami¬ 
liarity, and kiss his cheek. 

The supreme head of the Greek church is the Patriarch of 
Constantinople, whom they style the 13th Apostle ; and whose 
usual title, when he subscribes any letter, or mis¬ 
sive, is “ by the mercy of God , Archbishop of Grccl^church 
Constantinople , the New Rome and (Ecumenical 
Patriarch The right of electing him is vested in the twelve 
bishops who reside nearest that famous capital; but the right 
of confirming the election, and of enabling the new chosen 
patriarch to exercise his spiritual functions, belongs only to 
the Turkish-emperor. 

A patriarch of Constantinople formerly paid but ten thou¬ 
sand crowns for his instalment, but subsequently the price 
was advanced to twenty-five thousand. Even fifty and sixty 
thousand have been given by different patriarchs. Independ¬ 
ently of this charge, which is so exceedingly heavy, the minis¬ 
ters of state often exact other fees, so very enormous, that the 
patriarch becomes always encumbered with debts, and is 
forced to study incessantly new ways and means to satisfy the 
avarice of his creditors, If he once proves deficient in his pay¬ 
ments, he is presently deposed. And these may be considered 
as the genuine causes of those revolutions, which so frequently 
occur in the Greek Church, and which tend to support the 
tyrannical power of the Turks in the election of the clergy. 

The revenues of the Patriarch of Constantinople are very 
precarious, and increase or decrease in value according to the 
degree of oppression which he suffers from the Revenues 
Turks, or to the character which he himself 
bears, of being a virtuous or a dishonest man. The following 
are the sources from which his revenues arise. As soon as 
the patriarch is elected, he disposes of the vacant bishoprics 
and other benefices, to the best purchaser, and independently 
of the advar^ge of these sales, each bishopric, benefice, living, 
and convent within his jurisdiction, is assessed at a certain 
annual sum. Every priest in Constantinople pays him, annu¬ 
ally, a crown. The bishops, following the laudable example 
of their patriarch, exact the utmost from those persons whom 
they admit into holy orders; and the priests, again, obtain a 
supply for their pecuniary necessities by the sale of the blessed 
Sacraments to the people. They likewise make them pay for 
their holy water, their consecrated bread, and the very seats 
in their churches. Several bishoprics are assessed after the 
rate of a thousand crowns per annum, and the convents in 
proportion. There are about one hundred and fifty bishops 
15 


170 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


and archbishops who are dependant on the patriarch, and he 
receives a fee from every one, whom he ordains in Constanti¬ 
nople, whether he be priest or deacon; and those who are 
constituted bishops, or archbishops, make him a present in 
proportion to their quality. For every marriage that is so¬ 
lemnized in Constantinople, or within the jurisdiction thereof, 
he has a crown. This perquisite at one time amounted to a 
very considerable sum, on account of the vast number of 
Greeks who settled in Constantinople. The fee upon a se¬ 
cond marriage is doubled, and for the third and last, he re¬ 
ceives a triple gratuity, no fourth marriage being allowed, ac¬ 
cording to the tenets of the Greek church. 

One of the principal branches of the patriarch’s revenues 
arises from particular patrimonies, or estates of inheritance. 
In case a priest dies without issue, the patriarch has a just 
claim to all his effects, as the spiritual father and common 
heir of the clergy; and those Greeks wdio die possessed of very 
large estates generally remember the patriarch in their wills, 
and leave him either lands, houses, or ready money. Once in 
three years be collects a penny per head of every parishioner 
in his patriarchate; to which are added the contributions 
raised for him during Lent in the churches of Constantino¬ 
ple and Galata. Finally, the Czar of Muscovy himself makes 
him a very handsome present as a mark of his peculiar friend¬ 
ship and respect; and, on the other hand, the Greeks testify 
an extraordinary regard for the Russian nation, on account of 
some particular prophecies, which intimate that the Russians 
will one day deliver the Greeks from the tyranny and op¬ 
pression of the Turks. 

After the Patriarch of Constantinople, the richest is that of 
Jerusalem, on account of the large sums of money arising 
. from his profits by consecrated fires. The Pa- 
archs 6r atn " triarch of Antioch is the poorest of them all. 

That of Alexandria is very powerful, with respect 
to the ecclesiastical government, and he makes himself formi¬ 
dable by the execution of his penal laws. He assumes the 
grand title of Judge of the ivhole World , as well as that of 
Pope. But what distinguishes him in a particular manner 
from the Patriarch of Constantinople is, the advantage which 
he enjoys of being less exposed to the avarice and resentments 
of the Turks. His election is carried on without those arti¬ 
fices and intrigues, which are practised in that of the for¬ 
mer, and the votes of the electors are much more free. 

As to the revenues of the archbishops and bishops, they 
consist, in like manner, in the moneys arising from their re- 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


171 


spective ordinations. They have a fee of a crown 

upon all marriages; and every house in their th^ther^cLr- 
particular diocess supplies them with a cer- gy. 1 U 
tain quantity of corn, fruits, wine, and oil. 

The priests live on the revenues of the churches, or on 
the voluntary bounty and benevolence of their parishioners, 
and their public collections on solemn festivals. Every time 
a priest says mass, either on a holyday or Sunday, each house 
pays him two-thirds of a farthing, and, as a grateful acknow¬ 
ledgment, the priest on his part is obliged, before the sacrifice 
is offered up, to say a prayer, and beg of God to bless each 
of his benefactors for this small gratuity. It is, however, a 
custom amongst the Greeks to enjoy themselves, and to have 
an elegant entertainment on all solemn festivals, at which the 
priests always attend and give their blessing, as soon as the 
first course comes upon the table. This short religious ser¬ 
vice entitles them to some bread, meat, wine, and a small sum 
of money. As their whole maintenance, however, depends 
upon the good circumstances and liberality of their parish¬ 
ioners, their income is very uncertain and precarious, which 
naturally tends to make them avaricious and anxious in mind, 
abject and submissive in their behaviour, and lukewarm in 
their devotion. If any religious services be required of them, 
whether it be absolution, confession, baptism, marriage, di¬ 
vorce, excommunication, or administration of the sacraments 
to the sick, the price of each individual service must be first 
settled and adjusted. The priests make the best bargain they 
possibly can, always proportioning their fees to the zeal and 
circumstances of the devotees, with whom they hold this re¬ 
ligious commerce. 

The patriarch is elected by the archbishops and bishops, by 
a majority of votes; but this formality carries with it no weight 
nor importance, without the consent and ap- . 

probation of the Grand Seignior. Before the the " patriarch! 
election begins, it is customary to address the 
Grand Vizier for his license and permission to proceed upon 
it; and this minister summons the archbishops, and in¬ 
quires of them, whether they be fully determined to proceed 
to the election of a new patriarch. He repeats the ques¬ 
tion a second time, and grants his consent together with 
the baratz. His highness then presents the patriarch with 
a white horse, a black capuch, a crosier, and an embroidered 
caftan. In this ceremony, the Turk retains the ancient cus¬ 
tom of the Grecian emperors. After this, the patriarch, at¬ 
tended by a long train of Turkish officers, his own clergy, 


172 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


and a great concourse of people, repairs to his patriarchal see 
with all imaginable pomp and solemnity. The principal 
archbishops, and the remainder of the clergy, with wax-tapers 
in their hands, receive him at the church-door ; and the bishop 
of Heraclea, as chief archbishop, having a right to consecrate 
him, being dressed in his pontifical robes, takes the patriarch 
by the hand, and conducts him to the throne. Previously to 
this ceremony, however, he makes a short harangue to the 
people, and informs them, that such a person has been elected 
patriarch by the general suffrage of the archbishops and bish¬ 
ops, according to the canons of the church, and then invites the 
patriarch to take possession of the important trust reposed in 
him, who with gravity professes to decline it, as not consider¬ 
ing himself worthy of so great an honour: however, as it is 
conferred upon him by the will of Heaven, he submits at last 
to the decisions of the clergy. This ceremony being accom¬ 
plished, he receives the cross, the mitre, and the other ponti¬ 
fical ornaments, from the hands of the archbishop of Heraclea. 
fie seats himself on his throne; and the bishops, inferior cler¬ 
gy, and the populace, pay him the usual compliments, ex¬ 
claiming, Ad multos annos Domine. The celebration of the 
mass, with the usual ceremonies observed on solemn festivals* 
immediately succeed, and close the ceremony. 

According to ancient custom, the patriarch, bishops, and 
other dignified clergy, ought to have none but monks for 

their ministers, and no secular assistants. Before 

Urtier oi as- , ’ , , . 

sistants. the conquest of Constantinople they -were eccle¬ 
siastics, but at present they are all seculars, four 
only excepted; and this arrangement augments, on the one 
hand, the revenues of the patriarch ; and, on the other, grati¬ 
fies the ambition of the seculars. The following are the se- 
veral officers, ranged in their proper order, in regard to their 
respective functions, both ecclesiastical and civil. 

At the patriarch’s right hand stands his grand oeconomist, 
or high steward, whose peculiar province it is to collect the 
revenues, and discharge the necessary disbursements of the 
patriarchate. He delivers in his accounts twice a year, and 
assists at the patriarchal tribunal, whenever the court sits. 
When a bishop dies, he. likewise superintends the affairs of 
the vacant see, and has the first vote in every new election. 

The grand sacellarius, or high-master of the chapel, assists 
the patriarch in the administration of all his judicial affairs, 
and in the regular performance of the several ceremonies en¬ 
joined by the Church. It is a part of his office, likewise, to 
present all candidates to be ordained, and not only the mo- 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 173 

nasteries of the monks, but the convents of the nuns, are sub- 
ject to his inspection. 

The high treasurer , who is keeper of the sacred vessels 
and pontifical ornaments belonging to the church, stands at 
the door of the vestry, in which they are always deposited, * 
and not only delivers out the proper habiliments to the offi¬ 
ciating prelate, but takes care that every article be regularly 
placed upon the altar. When any bishopric is vacant, it is 
his province likewise to take care of the revenues belonging 
to it. 

The grand official takes cognizance of all affairs relating 
to benefices, and the impediments which obstruct marriages : 
he likewise introduces all those priests who come to receive 
the Sacrament'on solemn festivals. 

The grand logothetes , or high chancellor. He is the 
speaker, has the patriarch’s signet in his custody, and seals 
all his letters. 

The grand referendary despatches all the patriarch’s or¬ 
ders, is his deputy to persons of distinction, and is one of the 
ecclesiastical judges. He was distinguished by the title of the 
palatine in the time of the Greek emperors. 

The grand prothonotary sits directly opposite to the Pa¬ 
triarch, to transcribe and deliver out all his briefs, manda¬ 
muses, orders and decrees. It is his province also to examine 
twice a year all the professors of the canon law. Ail contracts, 
and last wills or testaments are under his inspection. Finally, 
he attends the patriarch in the sanctuary, and brings him 
water to wash his hands during the celebration of divine ser¬ 
vice. 

All the above-named officers, as well as those who follow, 
though their office be inferior, still preserve their ancient dig¬ 
nity, and stand at the patriarch’s right hand at all public 
solemnities. 

The thuroferary , or incense-bearer, independently of the 
duty implied in his name, covers the consecrated vessels, or 
implements, with a veil, during the anthem to the sacred Tri¬ 
nity, and assists the celebrant in putting on his sacerdotal 
vestments. 

The next officer is employed in noting down the votes ol 
the bishops, and receiving petitions and remonstrances. The 
protecdice, or advocate, determines all petty causes, and his 
court is held in the church porch. The hieromnemon is in¬ 
trusted with the care of the ritual, which is called contacium , 
and other church books. It is his province likewise to con¬ 
secrate any new church in the bishop’s absence, and to ordain 

I r -it 

o 


i74 GREEK CHURCH TROPER* 

the readers. There is another officer who takes care of the 
supergenual of the patriarch, and one who has the title of 
doctor. 

On the left hand of the patriarch attend the protopapas, or 
high priest, the deutereuon, or second visiter, the prefect of 
the churches, the ecdices, or lateral judges, the e„arch, the 
two domestics, the two laosynactes, the two deans, the proto- 
psaltes, or chief singer, the deputy, the grand archdeacon and 
the secondary deacon. The protopapas, whose dignity is en¬ 
tirely ecclesiastical, administers the Holy Sacrament to the 
patriarch at all high and solemn masses, and receives it 
from him. He is the head ecclesiastical dignitary, not only 
with respect to his peculiar privileges, hut to his right and 
title to precedence. The deutereuon, when the protopapas 
happens to be absent, officiates in his stead. The visiter, 
amongst several other prerogatives belonging to his office, 
enjoys the privilege of examining into all ecclesiastical de¬ 
bates, and all impediments in matrimonial cases. The sacred 
oil, and what the Greeks call the antimensium, which is a 
portable altar, are intrusted to the sole direction and manage¬ 
ment of the prefect, or superintendent. He has the honour to 
erect the cross on such spot of ground as is marked out, and 
set apart for a new church, when the patriarch cannot per¬ 
form this ceremony himself. The exarch revises all causes 
in which sentence has been already passed. The domestics, 
as also the two deans, who sit above the deacons, are ranged 
on each side of the protopsaltes, or master of the choir, and 
sing with him. The laosynactes assemble the deacons and 
people together. The deputy introduces strangers into the 
presence of the patriarch, and clears the way to and from his 
audience. ' He may be styled with propriety the master of the 
ceremonies. Those who stand on the left hand of the pa¬ 
triarch are the catechist, who instructs and prepares all those 
persons for the Sacrament of Baptism, who renounce their 
heretical tenets, and desire to be admitted into the pale of the 
Church. The periodeutes goes likewise from one place to 
another, to instruct those that are intended to be baptized: the 
prefect, or master of the ceremonies, an office distinct from 
that of the deputy, assigns every person his proper place. 

The protosyncellus is, properly speaking, inspector-general 
of the patriarch himself He has a right and title to an apart¬ 
ment in his palace, and resides there at night with several 
other syncelli, who are under his direction. His apartment 
joins the patriarch’s, and, in fine, he is not only the pa¬ 
triarch’s vicar and assistant, but his ghostly father. 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


175 


The service of the Greeks consists of nine parts; viz. the 
nocturns, or night service, the morning service, or matins, the 
laudes, prime, tierce, sexte, none, vespers, and 
complin. After the nocturnal, they sing the tur^&c Ll ' 
trisagium, or Holy God , Holy and Omnipotent , & ’ 

Holy and Eternal; and repeat the Gloria Patri three times 
successively, &c.; and at all the hours perform the same ser¬ 
vice. 

The Greeks have four distinct liturgies ; the first is that of 
St. James , which has met with a universal reception through¬ 
out the Greek Church. As this particular service is very 
long, and requires five hours at least for the celebration of it, 
it is read but once a-year, that is, on the 23d of October, which 
is St. James’s Day. The second is that of St. Basil. This 
Father distinctly perceived, that the unmerciful length of St. 
James’s liturgy tired the people, and damped their devotion ; 
and therefore "determined to abridge it. The liturgy of Basil , 
is read every Sunday in Lent, Palm Sunday excepted; on 
Holy Saturday, on the vigils or eves of Christmas, the Epi¬ 
phany, and the festival of St. Basil. The third liturgy is that 
of St. Chrysostom ; who ascertained that the liturgy of St. 
Basil, though an abridgment, was still too tedious, and that 
he did not make sufficient allowance for the weakness and 
frailty of the faithful, who are unable to support a close atten¬ 
tion to the duties of religion for several consecutive hours. 
St. Chrysostom, therefore, made a new reduction of this litur¬ 
gy, or rather extracted the most essential parts from St. Basil’s 
abridgment, and inserted them in his own. This liturgy of 
St. Chrysostom is used during the whole year, except on the 
days above particularly specified. The fourth, which is that 
of St. Gregory , is called the preconsecrated liturgy , because 
it always follows that of St. Chrysostom or St. Basil. The 
last liturgy of St. Gregory is no more than a collection of 
prayers peculiarly adapted to inspire both the priest and the 
people with that ardent zeal and devotion which are requisite 
for the Lord’s Supper. 

During divine service the Greeks observe several distinct 
postures, which are considered as actually essential, and of 
the greatest moment in the performance of their religious du¬ 
ties ; in general, when they pray, they stand upright, and turn 
their faces to the east; but they may lean, or even, sit down 
to rest themselves, when they find it convenient. The laity 
sit, whilst the priest reads his exhortation to them; but stand, 
when they pray to God or sing an anthem. On reaching 
their respective places they uncover their heads, and maize 


176 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


the sign of the cross, by joining the three first fingers of their 
right hand, by which it is implied, that there are three persons 
in the sacred Godhead. In this sign of the cross, the three fin¬ 
gers placed on the forehead denote, that the three persons in the 
sacred Godhead reside in the kingdom of heaven : when brought 
below the breast, they point out four great mysteries at once, 
viz. Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, burial, and descent into 
hell. When placed on the right shoulder, they imply that 
Jesus Christ being risen, sits at the right hand of God. In 
short, as the left shoulder is a type, or figure of the reproba¬ 
tion of the wicked, the Greek devotee, by placing his three 
fingers there, begs of God, that he may not be reckoned 
amongst the number of those abandoned wretches ; but be de¬ 
livered from the power of the devil. 

The whole devotion of the Greeks is comprised in the sign 
of the cross, and the collection of prayers, commonly called 
the Horologium , which are much the same as the Hours of 
the Latins. By this Horologium, it is manifest that they 
pray to the saints and the Virgin Mary. The latter is therein 
called the mother of God , the Queen of the Universe , and the 
Glory of the Orthodox. In one particular prayer of the noc¬ 
turnal service they implore the Blessed Virgin to frustrate 
the counsels of the ungodly, to fight for their rightful sove¬ 
reign, and intercede for the peace and tranquillity of the whole 
world, &c. 

It is remarkable, that their women, in some certain cases, 
are not allowed to enter their churches; but are obliged to 
stand at the door, as if their breath were infectious, and they 
never presume either to approach the communion table, or 
kiss their images. 

The Greeks celebrate mass, which consists of a round of 
ceremonies, somewhat similar to those of the Catholic mass. 

Mass. The lait y* as well as the clergy, however, among 
the Greeks, take the sacrament in both kinds, 
and receive from the hands of the priest the consecrated bread 
and wine in the same spoon, which the Greeks call Labis. 
The laity receive the sacrament standing at the door of the 
sanctuary; the men first, and then the women. Those who 
presume to partake of this holy banquet must stand in a 
modest and reverential posture; their eyes must be fixed on 
the ground, their head bowed down, as persons in the act of 
adoration, and their arms must be laid across. The Greeks 
follow the example of the Catholics, carry the communion to 
the sick, but with less pomp or grandeur, it being contained in 
a little box, enclosed in a bag which the priest bears under 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


177 

his arm. This is a small parcel or portion of the blessed 
bread, which they also carry to those whose business confines 
them at home. The bishop of Vabres says, that they take a 
small portion of consecrated bread, about an inch square, cut 
in the form of a cross and sprinkled with a .little blood, 
(that is, transubstantiated wine,) and administer it to the sick, 
after having moistened it with a little water, or a little wine! 
and this is their viaticum which they give to sick and dying 
persons. 3 

It is a custom amongst the Greeks, when the foundation of 
any church is to be laid, for the patriarch or bishop, dressed 
in all his pontifical robes, to repair to the place, churches 
and to bless it in the following manner. He thu¬ 
rifies or incenses every individual part of the whole founda¬ 
tion ; during which ceremony, the clergy sing anthems in 
honour to the particular saint to whom the church is to be 
devoted. As soon as he arrives at the place appointed for the 
high altar, he says a prayer, in which he begs that the Lord 
would be pleased to bless and prosper the intended edifice. 
After that, the bishop who consecrates it takes a stone, makes 
a cross with it, and lays it on the foundation, saying, The Lord 
hath laid the foundation of this house ; it shall never be sha¬ 
ken. This office properly belongs to the bishop, or such other 
person as the patriarch shall think fit to nominate or appoint; 
as well as another office which the Greeks call Stauropegium, 
i. e. the consecration or dedication of the church. A wooden 
cross is erected behind the communion-table, and in order the 
better to certify and assure the faithful, that this cross will be 
able to dispel and keep the infernal powers at a distance, a 
particular prayer is repeated, in which the miraculous rod of 
Moses is said to be an antecedent type of that of our Lord Je¬ 
sus Christ; as the cross at the consecration is its subsequent 
figure or representation. 

When the Greeks lay the foundation of any edifice, the 
priest blesses both the work and the workmen; and as soon 
as the priest has retired, the following ceremony is observed: 
the labourers kill a cock or a sheep, and bury the blood of it 
under the foundation-stone, they being of opinion, that there is a 
kind of magic or charm in this ceremony, of singular service 
and importance to the building. This ceremony is called 
Thusia , that is, sacrifice. 

There is, however, a still more remarkable ceremony preva¬ 
lent amongst the Greeks, and which may be adduced as a 
strong proof of the gross superstition in which they are un¬ 
happily immersed. When they entertain any resentment 


178 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


against a particular person, in order to satisfy their malice and 
revenge, they take an exact measure of the height and circum¬ 
ference of his body. This measure they carry to one of the 
workmen employed in laying the foundation of an edifice, who, 
for a small gratuity, buries it under one of the first stones. 
They flatter themselves, that their enemy will die soon after, 
or languish and fall away by degrees, in the same manner as 
this secret instrument of their revenge perishes and decays. 

The churches of Constantinople are generally built in the 
form of the Greek cross, that is, an equilateral square. The 
choir always fronts the east. Some ancient churches, which 
are still extant, have two naves, either sharp roofed, or vaulted; 
and their steeples, which are not of the least service, there 
being no bells in them, are erected in the middle of the two 
roofs. The Greeks are prohibited by the Turks from making 
use of bells, alleging, that the sound of them interrupts and 
disturbs the repose of departed souls. 

The Greeks have four solemn feasts, or Lents. The first 
commences on the 15th of November , or forty days before 
Christmas. The second is our Lent, which irn- 

Fasts and m ediately precedes Easter, which they keep 

estiva s. according to the old style, the Eastern Christians 
not’ having admitted the Gregorian Reformation of the Ca¬ 
lendar. Their third is distinguished by the title of the Fast 
of the Holy Apostles, which they observe upon the suppo¬ 
sition, that the apostles then prepared themselves by prayer 
and fasting for the promulgation of the Gospel. This fast 
commences the week after Whit-Sunday, and continues till 
the festival of St. Peter and St. Paul. The number of days 
therefore comprised in this Lent is not settled nor determined; 
but consists of more or less, according as Whit-Sunday falls 
sooner or later. Their fourth fast commences the first of 
August, and lasts only until the 15th. It is by this fast, that 
they prepare themselves for the celebration of the festival, 
called, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. This fast is 
observed so strictly, that the Greek monks are not allowed to 
touch one drop of oil during the continuance of it; and it is 
looked upon as a duty incumbent on all persons in general, 
except on the sixth of August, which is the festival of the 
Transfiguration, at which time they are indulged in the eat¬ 
ing both of oil and fish; but on the following day they are 
obliged to observe the same rules of abstinence as were before 
prescribed to them. 

The Greeks testify a peculiar veneration for the Blessed 
Virgin; and the expressions which they make use of in the 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


170 


prayers particularly addressed to her, are excessively extra¬ 
vagant, and border strongly upon the ridiculous. It is the 
custom of the most zealous devotees to dedicate to her after 
their meals a small piece of bread, which they cut in a 
triangular form, and, after thurification, elevate it to her 
honour. 

To these four general fasts must be added, that of the 28th 
of August, in commemoration of the martyrdom of St. John 
the Baptist. They prepare themselves by a fourteen days 
fast for the festival of the Exaltation of the Cross ; during 
which time the monks preach, and endeavour to affect the peo¬ 
ple with a long and pathetic history of our Saviour’s Passion: 
few, however, excepting the monks, observe the latter fast; 
they being the persons who peculiarly devote themselves to ex¬ 
ercises of devotion, and the mortification of the flesh ; accord¬ 
ingly, they not only abstain from all flesh, butter, cheese, and 
milk ; but from all fish that have either shells, fins, or blood. 
They are allowed, however, to eat any kind of fish, during 
that Lent which begins the 15th of November ; as well as on 
their ordinary fast-days of Wednesdays and Fridays; w r hich 
days are in general fast-days throughout the year, except a 
few particular ones, and amongst the rest, those in the eleventh 
week before Easter, which they call Artzeburst, which, in 
the Armenian language, signifies messenger; and the cause 
of this exception is at once curious and entertaining. A fa- 
- vourite dog, that served in the capacity of carrier or mes¬ 
senger to some particular heretics, having died, they imme¬ 
diately accused the orthodox with being the contrivers and 
promoters of his death ; and in commemoration of the good ser¬ 
vices of the dog, and as a public testimony of their unfeigned 
sorrow at his untimely end, the heretics set apart two days of 
this eleventh week to be observed as a fast. These two days 
were Wednesday and Friday, and the orthodox were absolved 
by the Greek church from fasting on those two days, lest 
they should act in conformity to an erroneous practice, esta¬ 
blished by the heretics. The Greeks likewise abstain from 
all kind of meats on Whitsun-Monday; on which day the 
people repair to church early in the morning, in order to 
pray to God for that communication of the Holy Ghost, 
which he formerly conferred on the blessed apostles. On the 
25th of March, which is the festival of the Annunciation of 
the Blessed Virgin Mary,‘they are allowed to eat what fish 
they please, notwithstanding this holyday falls in Lent. They 
are permitted likewise to eat meat from Christmas till the 
Epiphany, or Festival of the Three Kings, not excluding 


180 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


Wednesdays and Fridays, which, amongst the Greeks, are 
accounted fast days throughout the whole year. The Greeks 
select Wednesday, because Judas on that day took the nine 
pieces of silver to betray his Master; and Friday, on account 
of Christ’s Passion. 

Lent with the Greeks commences on a Monday, and their 
strict observance of all their fasts can only be equalled by 
their superstition. They look upon those persons, who, with¬ 
out an absolute necessity, violate the laws of abstinence, 
and, consequently, the constitutions of their church, to be as 
infamous and as criminal, in all respects, as those who 
are guilty of theft or adultery. They entertain such an ex¬ 
alted and extravagant idea of these fasts, that they imagine 
Christianity cannot possibly subsist without them, and they 
hesitate not to suspect the sincerity of those professors who 
presume to neglect or infringe the strict observance of them. 
This partial and more than common regard for fasts, induces 
the Eastern nations to believe that the Protestant Churches 
are all heterodox, as they observe no days of penance; to 
which may be added their total want of a profound veneration 
for the sign of the cross. 

The Greeks are so superstitious and extravagant in the 
observance of their fasts, that they will not admit of any cases 
of sufficient urgency to justify the grant of any dispensations ; 
and the patriarch himself, according to their ideas, cannot 
authorize nor empower any person to eat meat, when the 
church has enjoined the contrary. They think it their duty 
rather to let a sick man die, than restore him to health, if they 
could, by such an abominable prescription as a mess of broth; 
it is true, nevertheless, that a father confessor will sometimes, 
when he entertains a particular love and respect for a person 
that is indisposed, order and advise him to eat meat, and pro¬ 
mise him his absolution from the sin, upon his coming to 
confession. Upon a general computation, there are only 
about one hundred and thirty days in the year on which meat 
is allowed; and neither old nor young, sick nor weak, are 
excused from the strict observance of all their fasts. 

In regard to their feasts, Easter is accounted by the Greek 
church the most solemn festival in the year. It is customary 
for them at this time, upon meeting with their friends, to 
greet them with this formal salutation, Jesus Christ is risen 
from the dead; to which the person accosted replies, He is 
risen indeed ; at the same time, they kiss each other three 
times, once on each cheek, and once upon their lips, and then 
part. This ceremony is observed on Good Friday, Easter- 


GREEK CHURCII PROPER. 


181 


Sunday, and the three subsequent days; and every week till 
Whitsuntide. According to some historians, two priests on Good 
Friday, in order to commemorate the sacred sepulchre, carry 
in procession at night upon their shoulders, the picture or re¬ 
presentation of a tomb, in which the crucified Jesus, painted 
on a board, is deposited. On Easter Sunday, this sepulchre 
is carried out of the church, and exposed to the public view; 
when the priest begins to sing, Jesus Christ is risen from the 
dead; he has triumphed over death , and given life to all such 
as were laid in their graves. After which, it is carried back 
to the church, and there thurified or incensed, and the service is 
continued. The priest and the congregation repeat almost 
every moment this form of words, Jesus Christ is risen from 
the dead. In the next place, the celebrant, or officiating 
priest, makes three signs of the cross, kisses the Gospel, and 
the image of Jesus Christ. Then the picture is turned on the 
other side, on which Jesus Christ is represented as rising out 
of his sepulchre. The priest kisses it, and in a more elevated 
strain pronounces the same form, Jesus Christ is risen from 
the dead. The whole congregation embrace and make their 
peace with each other, and in their transports of joy at the 
sight of this rough sketch of the resurrection, fire their pistols, 
which frequently singe the hair and beards of the reverend 
Pappas. The ceremony concludes with the benediction pro¬ 
nounced by the officiating priest. The women observe much 
the same ceremony amongst themselves, in that part of the 
church which is appropriated to their peculiar service, with 
the exception of the firing of the pistols. 

On Holy Thursday, some of the most zealous bishops wash 
the feet of twelve priests, and the following is a description of 
this solemnity. Twelve of the most venerable priests attend 
the archbishop to church, where he is dressed in a purple robe. 
As soon as one part of the service is concluded, he enters 
into the sanctuary, divests himself of his purple vestment, and 
puts on another of much greater pomp and splendour. The 
priests, who in this ceremony represent the twelve apostles, 
have each of them a robe of a different colour. The eldest 
and most venerable father is selected to personate St. Peter, 
and takes the first place on the right hand. One of them, 
who is obliged to have a red beard, in order to render the 
ceremony more lively and natural, has the misfortune to supply 
the place of Judas. All these priests being thus regularly 
placed, the prelate goes out to change his habiliments, and 
returns with a napkin tied round his waist, and a basin of 
water in his hand to wash the feet of these twelve apostles. 

16 


182 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


He who personates St. Peter, refuses at first the honour in¬ 
tended him, saying', Master , thou shalt never wash my feet. 
But the prelate answers him, Unless I wash thee, thou shalt 
have no part in me. Upon which, the priest makes no further 
resistance, but permits him to wash his feet. When the prelate 
comes to the unhappy representative of Judas, he makes a 
kind of pause, as if to give him time to recollect himself, but at 
last washes his feet also; and the ceremony closes with several 


anthems. 

On the 2d of September, the monks alone celebrate the fes¬ 
tival of St. John the Baptist, whom they have dignified with 
the character of temperate and abstemious, as setting the first 
glorious example of fasting. The 26th is consecrated in 
commemoration of St. John the Evangelist, of whom it is a 
received notion amongst the Greeks, that he was snatched up 
to heaven like Enoch and Elias. 

According to Christopher Angelus, there are six-and-lhirty 
solemn festivals in the Greek calendar, twelve of which are 
devoted to the honour and service of the Lord Jesus, and the 
Blessed Virgin; the remaining twenty-four are appropriated 
to St. John the Baptist, the Apostles, and the Holy Martyrs. 

The first sacrament of the Greek 'Church is that of bap¬ 
tism, and the Greeks take care to bring their children as soon 
. as they are eight days old, to the church door. 

u ‘ This religious custom is very ancient amongst 
them, and may be regarded as an imitation, or subsequent 
figure, of the presentation of Jesus Christ in the temple of Je¬ 
rusalem. If an infant, however, be in any apparent danger of 
death, he is baptized immediately, for fear he should die in 
darkness, or as they express it, out of the light. The priest 
goes to the church door, in order to receive the infant, and 
to give him his benediction, as St. Simon formerly did to our 
blessed Saviour. At the same time he marks him with the 
sign of the cross on his forehead, his mouth, and his breast. 
These are the preliminary ceremonies to the sacrament of 
Baptism, and are styled, putting the seal upon an infant. 
The initial ceremony is followed by a prayer repeated by the 
priest* after which he takes the infant and raises him in his 
arms, either before the church door, or the image of the bless¬ 
ed Virgin, making several signs of the cross upon him. This 
baptism is performed by a threefold immersion ; but before he 
administers this sacrament, the priest breathes three times on the 
infant, which is looked upon as an exorcism, and deliverance 
from the power and* malice of the devil; afterwards he plunges 
him three times all over in the baptismal font, and at each 


GRERK CHURCH PROPER. 


183 


immersion names one of the three personages of the sacred 
Trinity. The relations, who bring the child to be baptized, 
take care to have the baptismal water warmed, throwing into 
it a collection of the most odoriferous flowers; and whilst the 
water is warming the priest sanctifies it by a prayer, breathes 
upon it, and then pours oil into it, and, with the same oil, 
anoints the infant in the form of a cross. The oil is a symbol 
or figure of man’s reconciliation with his Maker, and this 
unction is performed by the priest upon the child’s forehead 
and breast, all round about his ears, and upon his loins, du¬ 
ring which he pronounces the following forms of words, in 
anointing the forehead, The servant of the Lord is anointed; 
in anointing his breast, For the cure of his soul and body; 
and at the unction of his ears he adds, that the faith may be 
received by hearing. 

After the last prayer in the office of baptism, the infant is 
confirmed by the priest, who, on applying the chrism, in the 
form of a cross, to the forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, breast, 
hands, and feet of the infant, says, Behold the seal of the gift 
of the Holy Ghost. 

Seven days after baptism, the infant is brought to church in 
order to be washed. The priest, pronouncing the prayers 
directed in their ritual, not only washes the infant’s shirt, but 
cleans his body with a new sponge, or a linen cloth prepared 
for that purpose, and dismisses him with the following words, 
Thou art now baptised , surrounded vnth a celestial light, for¬ 
tified with the Sacrament of Confirmation , and sanctified 
and washed in the name of the Father , of the Son , and of the 
Holy Ghost. 

Excommunication excludes the offender from the pale of the 

Church ; deprives him of all communion with the Father, Son, 

and Holy Ghost; cuts him off from all communion ^ 

j i t bxcommu- 

with the three hundred and eighteen fathers of the n i ca tion. 

first council of Nice, and with the saints; con¬ 
signs him over to the devil and the traitor Judas; and, in short, 
condemns his body to remain after death as hard as a flint or 
a piece of steel, unless he humbles himself, and makes atone¬ 
ment for his sins by a sincere repentance. The whole form 
of excommunication abounds with the most direfui impreca¬ 
tions ; and if it does not absolutely deprive the delinquent of 
the enjoyment of the four elements, it calls down more curses 
on his head than are requisite to render that enjoyment insup¬ 
portable. It even prohibits his interment after his decease; 
and the awful apprehension of such appalling misfortunes 
contributes very much, beyond all doubt, towards imprinting on 


184 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


the minds of the Greeks a lively sense of their duty ; to which 
may be added, their belief respecting those excommunicated 
persons, who die in impenitence, that their bodies will never 
dissolve nor moulder away, until such excommunication be. 
taken off The devil, according to a received notion amongst 
the Greeks, enters into their lifeless corses, and makes them 
subservient to his wayward will and pleasure. 

The particular ceremonies and preliminaries of the mar¬ 
riage rites of the Greeks are as singular and remarkable as 
. / those of other countries, and we shall, in the first 

1 ° " place, describe those which may, with propriety, 
be termed religious. In the office of matrimony there is a 
prayer for the bride, who is to be muffled up either in a veil, or a 
hood. Those who are inclined to be joined together in the 
bands of wedlock, make their applications to the priest as soon 
as mass is over for the solemnization of their nuptials. The 
bridegroom stands on the right hand, and the bride on the left. 
Two rings, one gold, the other silver, are deposited near to 
each other on the right side of the communion table, the latter 
pointing to the right hand, and the former to the left. The 
priest who performs the ceremony, makes several crosses upon 
the bride and bridegroom; puts lighted wax-tapers in their 
hands, thurifies, or incenses them, in the form of a cross, and 
accompanies them to the temple. The choir and the deacon 
pray alternately that the bridegroom and the bride may pros¬ 
per in all their undertakings, and be blessed with a numerous, 
and hopeful issue. When these prayers are over, the priest 
gives the gold ring to the bridegroom, and the silver one to his 
spouse, saying three times successively, I join (or I tie) N. and 
N. these servants of the Almighty here present, in the Name 
of the Father, &c. Having pronounced this form of words, 
he makes the sign of the cross with the rings over their 
heads, before he puts them on the proper finger of the right 
hand. Then the paranymph, or brideman, exchanges these 
two rings, and the priest reads a long prayer, in which the 
virtue and dignity of the nuptial ring are typically compared 
to Joseph's ring, and that of Daniel , and of Thamar. 

While the bride and bridegroom are crowned, the same 
priest accompanies the ceremony with several benedictions, 
and other emphatical prayers, which being completed, the 
bridegroom and his spouse enter the church with their wax- 
tapers lighted in their hands ; the priest marches in procession 
before them, with his incense-pot, singing, as he proceeds, the 
128th Psalm, which consists of a promise to the faithful Jews 
of a prosperous and fruitful marriage. At the close of every 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


185 

verse the congregation repeat the Doxology , or the Gloria 
Patri. The deacon, as soon as the psalms are over, resumes 
the prayers, and the choir makes the usual responses. 

These prayers being concluded, the priest places the crown 
on the bridegroom’s head, saying, This man , the servant of 
the Lord, is crowned , in order to be married to this woman, 
&c. After which, he crowns the bride, and repeats the same 
form, which is followed by a triple benediction, the proper 
lessons, and prayers. The priest, in the next place, presents 
the bridegroom and the bride with a goblet, or large gdass, full 
of wine, ready blest for that purpose; after which, he takes 
off their crowns. Another prayer, accompanied with a proper 
benediction, and several compliments paid to the newly mar¬ 
ried couple, conclude the solemnity. 

Ihe observance of the following particular customs is 
looked upon amongst the Greeks as an indispensable obliga¬ 
tion, and, in short, a fundamental article of their religion. °If 
a priest, after the decease of his first wife, marries again, he 
forfeits his title to the priesthood, and is looked upon as a lay¬ 
man. If a layman marries a fourth wife, he is excluded from 
all communion with the Church. When a man has buried 
his third wife, there is no medium for him ; he must either 
continue a lay-widower, or enter himself a member of some 
convent. The general reason assigned for this severe pro¬ 
hibition, is, that fourth marriages are absolute polygamy. 
The Greeks do not entertain the same idea of three subsequent 
marriages, because, by a most refined subterfuge and evasion, 
which is scarcely intelligible, they insist that polygamy 
consists of two copulatives, and that three marriages consist 
but of one plurality, and a unity. A much better reason for 
it is, however, assigned by Ricaut, which is, that this custom 
of the modern Greeks is grounded on the rigour of the ancient 
church, which checked and censured (in all probability too 
austerely) all those who indulged themselves in any sensual 
enjoyments. Some of the primitive fathers were so strict, as 
not to make allowance for the natural constitution of man and 
the climate in which he lived, nor would they admit of any 
other circumstance, as a sufficient plea for indulgence. 

The following are some preliminary marriage-ceremonies, 
observed by the Greeks at Athens. The young virgins never 
stir out of their houses before their wedding-day, and their 
gallants make love by proxy, or a third person, who has free 
access to them, and is some relation or particular acquaintance, 
in whose fidelity and friendship they can properly confide. 
The lover does not therefore so much as see his intended bride 
16 * 


186 


CREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


till the day appointed for the solemnization ol their nuptials. 
On that day, the bride is handed about in public for a long 
time, moving in a very slow and solemn pace. I he proces¬ 
sion between the church and the bridegroom’s house occupies 
at least two hours, and is preceded by a select band of haut¬ 
boys, tabors, and other musical instruments. During this ce¬ 
remony and the procession, the young virgins carry a large 
crown on their heads, composed of filigree work, decked with 
costly pearls, which is so cumbrous and troublesome, that they 
are obliged to walk as upright as an arrow. This public 
wedding would be looked upon with an eye of contempt if the 
parties were not painted, or rather daubed over in a very rude 
and inelegant manner. 

A striking difference exists between the Greeks and the 
Latins, in regard to the manner of administering the extreme 
unction , and there are several ceremonies which 
Extreme Unc- kelcmg peculiarly to the two unctions of the 
Greeks. The archbishop, or, in his absence, the 
bishop, consecrates, on Wednesday in holy week, the oil of 
unction for the w r hole year; and on Maundy-Thursday, the 
patriarch, or bishop, administers the unction publicly to all 
the faithful. The prelate is anointed first by the G^conomist, 
after which he himself anoints the whole congregation. 

The other circumstances relating to the unction and ex¬ 
treme unction of the Greeks, which are peculiar to themselves, 
are, that the priest, after he has dipped his cotton, which is 
fastened to the end of a stick, into the sacred oils, anoints 
the penitent, or the sick person, in the form of a cross, upon 
the forehead, chin, cheeks, the upper side, and palms of the 
hands. After which he pronounces a short prayer. The 
seven assisting priests anoint all the sick persons, one after 
another. The principal lays the gospel upon his head, whilst 
the others lay their hands upon him. 

The differences which have been observed between the 
unction of the Latins and that of the Greeks, consist in, that 
by the laws of the Latin Church one person alone may 
administer the Sacrament of extreme unction; whereas the 
administration of it, in the opinion of the Greeks, is irregular, 
unless three at least assist at the celebration of it. By the 
Latin ritual , the bishop only has authority to consecrate the 
oil; but the Grecian priests, as well as their prelates, are 
invested with that power. Independently of the parts of the 
body of their sick, which are differently anointed, it is cus¬ 
tomary with the Greeks to anoint their houses also, and to 
imprint upon them at the same time several signs of the cross. 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


187 


On the decease of any person, the whole family appear like 
so many actors at the representation of a deep tragedy; all 
are in tears, and at the same time utter forth the 
most dismal groans. The body of the deceased, St> 

whether male or female, is dressed in its best appa¬ 
rel, and afterwards extended upon a bier, with one wax taper at 
the head, and another at the feet. The wife, if the husband be 
the object of their sorrow, the children, servants, relations, and 
acquaintance, enter the apartment in which the deceased is 
thus laid out, with their clothes rent, tearing their hair, beat¬ 
ing their breast, and disfiguring their faces with their nails. 
When the body of the deceased is completely dressed, and 
decently extended on the bier, for the regular performance of 
his last obsequies, and the hour is arrived for his interment, 
the crucifix is carried in procession at the head of the funeral 
train. The priests and deacons who accompany them, reci¬ 
ting the prayers appointed by the church, burn incense, and 
implore the Divine Majesty to receive the soul of the deceased 
into his heavenly mansions. The wife follows his dear re¬ 
mains, drowned in a flood of tears, and so disconsolate that, if 
we might form a judgment from her tears, and the excess of 
her cries and lamentations, one would imagine she would in¬ 
stantly set her soul at liberty to fly after, and overtake her 
husband’s. There are some women, however, to be met with, 
who have no taste for these extravagant testimonies of their 
grief and anguish, and yet their mourning is not less solemn 
than that of their neighbours. It is rather singular that the 
Greeks have women who are mourners by profession, who 
weep in the widow’s stead for a certain sum; and by frequent 
practice of their art, can represent to the life all the violent 
emotions and gesticulations that naturally result from the 
most pungent and unfeigned sorrow. 

As soon as the funeral service is over, they kiss the crucifix, 
and afterwards salute the mouth and forehead of the deceased. 
After that, each of them eats a small of bit of bread, and 
drinks a glass of wine in the church, wishing the soul of the 
deceased a good repose, and the afflicted family all the conso¬ 
lation they can wish for. A widow who has lost her hus¬ 
band, a child who has lost his father or mother, in short all 
persons who are in deep mourning, dress no victuals at their 
own houses. The friends and relations of the deceased send 
them in provisions for the first eight days; at the end of which 
they pay the disconsolate family a charitable visit, in order to 
condole with, and comfort them under their unhappy loss, and 
Jo wait on them to the church, where prayers are read for the 


188 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


repose of the soul of the deceased. The men again eat and 
drink in the church, whilst the women renew their cries and 
lamentations. But those who can afford to hire professed 
mourners, never undergo this second fatigue, hut substitute 
proper persons in their stead, to weep over their husbands’ 
tombs three days after their interment; at which time prayers 
are always read for the repose of his soul. After the ninth 
day, masses and prayers are again read upon the same occa¬ 
sion, which are repeated at the expiration of forty days; as 
also, at the close of six months, and on the last day of the 
year., After the ceremony is concluded, they make their 
friends a present of some corn, boiled rice, wine, and some 
sweetmeats. This custom, which is generally called by the 
Greeks, Ta Sperna, is looked upon by them as very ancient. 
They renew it with increased solemnity and devotion, on the 
Friday immediately preceding their Lent, that before Christ¬ 
mas, on Good Friday, and the Friday before Whitsuntide; 
which days the Greek Church have devoted to the service of 
the dead, not only of those who have departed this life ac¬ 
cording to the common course of nature, but those likewise 
who have unfortunately met with a sudden and untimely 
death. 

There is no mass said for the dead on the days of their in¬ 
terment ; but forty are said in every parish on the following 
day, at seven-pence per mass. As soon as they arrive in the 
church, the priests read aloud the service for the dead, whilst 
a young clerk repeats some particular Psalms of David at the 
foot of the bier. When the service is concluded, twelve loaves, 
and as many bottles of wine are, distributed amongst the poor 
at /the church door. Every priest has ten gazettas, or Vene¬ 
tian pence, and the bishop who accompanies the corpse, three 
half crowns. The grand vicar, treasurer, and keeper of the 
archives, who are next to the prelate in point of dignity, have 
three crowns, or a double fee. After this distribution, one of 
the priests lays a large piece of broken pot upon the breast of 
the deceased, on which a cross, and the usual characters I. N. 
B. I., being, the initials of four Greek words, signifying Jesus 
of Nazareth, King of the Jews, are engraved with the point of 
a penknife, or some other tool or instrument proper for that 
occasion. After that they withdraw and take their leave of 
the deceased. The relations kiss the lips ; and this is looked 
upon as a duty so very imperative, that the neglect of it cannot 
be dispensed with, although the person died of the most infec¬ 
tious distemper. 

Nine days afterwards, the cohjva is sent to church ; which. 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


189 


according to the Greeks, is a large dish of boiled wheat, gar¬ 
nished with blanched almonds, raisins, pomegranates, sesame, 
and strewed round with sweet basil, and other odoriferous 
herbs. The middle of the dish is raised in a pyramidical 
form, adorned at top with a large bunch of Venetian artificial 
flowers; large lumps of sugar, or dried sweetmeats, are 
ranged, like Maltese crosses, all round the borders ; and this 
is what the Greeks call the oblation of the colyva, which is 
established amongst them, in order that the true believer may 
commemorate the resurrection of the dead, according to those 
words of our blessed Saviour, recorded in St. John.— Exceyt 
a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die , it abidcth alone: 
but if it die , it bringcth forth much fruit. It must be ac¬ 
knowledged that true piety and devotion have contributed very 
much towards the establishment of this kind of ceremony ; but 
it must be also allowed, that by a kind of fatality, which too 
frequently attends the most pious institutions, this, as well as 
other ceremonies of a similar nature, has degenerated into su¬ 
perstition. It is worthy of remark that this ceremony of the 
Grecian colyva , which is peculiar to their funeral solemnities, 
their ninth day’s devotion, their quarantains, their anniversa¬ 
ries, and the days appointed for the commemoration of their 
dead, is also observed on their most solemn festivals. The 
comfits, or sweetmeats, and other fruits, are added merely to 
render their boiled w’heat a little more palatable. The sexton, 
or grave-digger, carries this dish of colyva upon his head, 
preceded by an attendant with tw r o large flambeaux made of 
wood and gilt, embellished with several row’s of large ribands, 
and edged with lace, six inches deep. This grave-digger is 
followed by three other attendants, or waiters, one with two 
large bottles of w T ine in his hands, another loaded with two 
baskets full of fruits, and the third carrying a Turkish carpet, 
which is to be spread over the tomb of the deceased, and made 
use of as a table-cloth for their colyva , and their funeral enter¬ 
tainment. 

The priest reads the service of the dead, during the time 
that this customary oblation is carried to church, and he is af¬ 
terwards complimented with a large proportion of it: wine is 
abundantly served to every person of tolerable credit or re¬ 
pute, and the remainder is distributed amongst the poor. As 
soon as the oblation is carried out of doors, the hired mourn¬ 
ers repeat their hideous outcrys, the same as on the day of the 
interment, and the relations, friends, and acquaintance, like¬ 
wise express their sorrow by a thousand ridiculous grimaces. 
The whole recompense which the hired mourners receive for 


190 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


their flood of tears, is five loaves, two quarts of wine, half a 
cheese, a quarter of mutton, and fifteen pence in money. The 
relations are obliged, consistently with the custom of some par¬ 
ticular places, to pay several visits to the tomb of the deceased, 
to weep over it, and, as an incontestable testimony of their un¬ 
feigned sorrow, they never change their clothes during the 
time of their mourning; the husbands never shave themselves, 
and the widows suffer themselves to be overrun with vermin. 
In some particular islands, the natives mourn constantly at 
home, and the widowers and widows never go to church, nor 
frequent the sacraments, whilst they are in mourning. The 
bishops and priests are sometimes obliged to compel them to 
attend church, under pain of excommunication, of which the 
Greeks have a more awful apprehension than of fire and 
sword. 

The idea which the Greeks entertain of purgatory, is very 
dark and confused, and in general they leave the decision of 
eternal salvation or condemnation to the day of judgment. 
They are at a loss to fix and determine the place where the 
souls of the deceased reside till the final day of resurrection, 
and in this state of incertitude, they never omit to pray for them, 
hoping that God, of his infinite goodness, will incline his ear 
to their supplications. 

The first, or lowest order of their priesthood is the lecturer, 
whose peculiar province is to read the sacred scriptures to the 

Order and people on solemn festivals: from this station he 
Ordination of is gradually advanced, first to be a chorister or 
their Priests. _ chanter, then subdeacon, whose office it is at 
mass to sing the epistle; and then he is ordained deacon, 
and sings the gospel. The last order is that of the priests, 
who are either seculars, or regulars. 

According to the orders in the pontifical, when a person is 
to be ordained a priest, two deacons accompany him to the 
sacred doors , and there deliver him into the hands of the 
priests. The protopapas, and he who is next in dignity to 
him, lead him three times round the altar, singing the hymn 
of the martyrs. The candidate for the priesthood then kneels 
down, and the ordinant makes three times over his head the 
sign of the cross, repeats the prayers adapted to that particular 
occasion, and lays his hands upon him. In one of the 
prayers in particular, the ordinant enumerates the principal 
functions of a priest; viz. those of sacrificing, preaching the 
gospel, and administering the sacrament of baptism, &c. 
These prayers being concluded, he orders the new priest to 
rise, and puts the band of the horary, which hung down 


GREEK CHURCH PROTER. 


191 


behind, over his right shoulder. He then presents him with 
the epitracheliuin, or the stole; and the phelonium , or the 
surplice; the choir singing during the whole of the time this 
ceremony is performing. A deacon afterwards pronounces 
the following exhortation, Let us love one another. Then the 
Patriarch kisses the altar; and each priest approaches the 
sacred table, in regular order, according to his rank and digni¬ 
ty, and not only kisses it, but also the patriarch’s hand, which 
lies upon it, and then his cheek. The priests salute each 
other, and the deacons follow their example. 

The priests wear a white woollen fillet behind their hats 
or caps, which hangs down upon their shoulders, and is called 
“ peristera,” that is to say, a clove; and is looked upon as an 
emblem or figure of the innocence and purity of the priest¬ 
hood. The bishop moves this dove from any priest under his 
jurisdiction, who is proved guilty of any enormous offence, 
and the majority of them are so notoriously vicious, that very 
few can boast of wearing this badge of innocence for any 
long period of time. 

At the ordination of a bishop, the priests deliver him into 
the hands of two prelates, who oblige him to make a formal 
procession round the altar, as in the preceding ordinations. 
After these preliminary ceremonies, the chartophylax, or 
archivist, delivers the contacium, which is a small collection 
of degrees, forms, &c. relating to the election of a bishop, to 
the patriarch, who takes it in his left hand, and lays his right 
on the candidate for the bishopric, in order to read the form 
of his election; after this lesson, he opens the book of the 
gospels, and lays it on the head of the candidate, all the assist¬ 
ing bishops laying their hands on the book at the same time: 
all these ceremonies are accompanied with several prayers 
which are suitable to the solemn occasion. 

The prayers being over, the ordinant takes the book from 
the head of the bishop elect, and having deposited it on the 
altar, presents him with the 'pallium: this ceremony is ac¬ 
companied with singing and with holy kisses. 

The Greeks are, in general, an ignorant and superstitious 
people. Amongst their superstitious customs, the Superstitious 
following may be included as some of the most Customs, 
extraordinary:— - 

They attach a particular sanctity to some fountains, which 
they look upon as miraculous waters, especially when they 
are devoted to the service of any celebrated saint. This su¬ 
perstitious notion appears to be a true copy of a pagan ori¬ 
ginal. 


192 


GREEK CHURCH TROPER. 


They think it a duty incumbent upon them to refrain from 
blood, and all meats that have been strangled; but notwith¬ 
standing this scruple of conscience, they are not very nice in 
regard to the kind of provisions which are set before them. 
If they be strict, however, in the observance of this custom, 
they are in that respect very nearly allied to the Jews. 

They call the Nile the Monarch of the Floods; and are of 
opinion, that the overflowing of this river is a peculiar bless¬ 
ing, and an indulgence of the Almighty to Egypt, on account 
of our Saviour and the blessed Virgin having been sheltered 
and protected in that country from the persecutions of Herod. 

Their art of physic, which is generally practised by empi¬ 
rics and ignorant pretenders, is accompanied by innumerable 
superstitions. The following may be adduced as a striking 
instance of the extent of their medical knowledge. When 
their patients’ heads are so very much disordered as to cause 
delirium, they use the same means for their recovery as with 
a demoniac, or one possessed with the devil. The physician 
in this case ceases to prescribe for him ; but his friends make 
an immediate application to an exorcist; that is, to one of their 
papas, who approaches the patient’s bed-side, and not only 
reads several prayers over him, but sprinkles him with holy 
water. He pours likewise a plentiful quantity of it into the 
bed in which the patient lies, and, in short, sprinkles the room 
all over. The exorcisms ensue, and the papas in the most 
solemn manner, expel the imaginary demons. Conceit effects 
a cure which was supposed to be beyond the skill of the most 
able physician. 

The Greeks are extremely fond of visiting their churches 
and chapels, especially such as are on precipices, and places 
very difficult of access ; and, indeed, the principal part of 
their devotion consists in voluntary fatigues, which is, in their 
eyes, a kind of mortification of the flesh. On their first arri¬ 
val at the church or chapel, they repeatedly cross themselves, 
and make a thousand genuflexions and profound bows. They 
kiss the image which is erected in it, and present it with three 
or four grains of the choicest frankincense; recommending 
themselves to the protection of the blessed Virgin, or to the 
saint whom the image represents ; but in case the saint does 
not incline his ear, and hearken to their vows, they soon make 
him sensible of their resentment. 

One of the greatest frauds engendered by superstition, is the 
urn of Amorgos, which is looked upon as the oracle of the 
Archipelago. It has this in common with the ancient oracles 
of Greece, that it is indebted to the artifice and roguery of the 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


193 


priests for the fame of its predictions. This urn, which stands 
near a chapel consecrated to St. George, fills and disembogues 
itself several times in the course of a day, and sometimes with¬ 
in so small a period as half an hour, which is looked upon as 
a miracle, and ascribed to the prevailing influence and power 
of St. George. This is the very same St. George, who, at 
Scyros, flies at and seizes upon those impious persons who 
neglect to perform their vows. His image, according to tra¬ 
ditionary report, lays violent hands on the delinquents, jumps 
upon their shoulders, and gives them many severe blows on 
the head and back, till they have discharged the duty incum¬ 
bent on them. They see him sailing in the air, and frisking 
about from one place to another, till at last he settles upon the 
back of a blind monk, who carries him he knows not whither. 
Those who consult the urn of Amorgos before they engage in 
any affair of the last importance, are sure to prove unsuccess¬ 
ful if, upon their first approach, they find the water lower 
than ordinary. Father Richard assures us, that the islanders 
annually, at Easter, consult this urn of Amorgos, which, from 
its fulness or emptiness, presages a plentiful or a bad harvest. 

There is a very particular custom observed in the island of 
Andros, the origin of which, however, has hitherto baffled the 
most rigid inquiry. At the procession on the festival of Cor¬ 
pus Christi, the bishop of the Romish Church, who carries 
the body of our blessed Saviour, tramples under foot all the 
Christians7 of whatever sect they may be, who lie prostrate 
before him in the streets. The same custom, is observed at 
Naxos, and the missionary who relates the story adds, that 
such as have any sick persons in their family, bring them out, 
in order to lie in the way of the blessed Sacrament; and the 
more they are trodden, the nearer they approach to convales¬ 
cence. 

The inhabitants of some parts of the island of Chios, are 
of opinion that a corpse, which is not corrupted in forty days, 
is transformed into a familiar spirit, or hobgoblin, which is 
very troublesome and impertinent, knocks at people’s doors, 
and even calls them distinctly by their names. If any person 
presumes to answer to his call, they think he will most assu¬ 
redly die in two or three days at furthest. 

At Nicaria, near Samos, the inhabitants, who are all swim¬ 
mers, will not marry their daughters to any but such young 
fellows who can dive eight fathoms deep at least. They are 
obliged to produce a' certificate of their diving ability, and 
when a papa, or some substantial islander, is determined (o 
dispose of his daughter in marriage, he appoints a day, when 


194 GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 

the best swimmer is to bear away the prize. As soon as the 
candidates are all stripped naked, the young lady makes her 
personal appearance, and in they jump. He who continues 
longest under water is the fortunate bridegroom. 

The Greeks of the Holy Land assert, and firmly believe it 
to be a real fact, that the birds which fly round about Jerusa¬ 
lem, never sing during passion week; but stand motionless 
and confounded almost all the time, testifying a sympathetic 
sorrow and compassion for the sufferings of our Saviour. 

The sacred fire of the Greeks is a ceremony more super¬ 
stitious than religious, a whimsical, merry custom, which is 
very justly a stumbling block and rock of offence to several 
serious Mahometans, instilling into their minds a most con¬ 
temptible idea of the eastern Christians. In short, it is nothing t 
but a piece of priestcraft, to cheat the too credulous pilgrims 
out of their money, by making them believe that, on Easter- 
eve, a fire descends from Heaven into the sacred sepulchre. 
The Turks are no strangers to this pious fraud, but connive 
at it, because it is very advantageous to them; and the patri¬ 
archs on their part declare that they could never pay their 
taxes, nor their tributes, if this stratagem, however unbecoming 
the practice of a Christian, should be discovered and exposed. 
Thevenot has given us the following description of this religious 
farce. “ About eight in the morning the Greeks extinguish all 
their lamps, and those in the sacred sepulchre. Then they run 
about staring like persons distracted, bawling and making a hide¬ 
ous howling, without any regard or reverence to the sacred place. 
Every time they passed the holy sepulchre, they cried out, 
Eleyson! that is,‘Have mercy upon us!’ It was very di¬ 
verting to see them afterwards jump upon one another’s backs, 
kicking one another’s shins, and flogging each other on the 
shoulders with knotted cords. A whole crowd of them got 
together, and taking up some of their comrades in their arms, 
ran for some time with them round the sepulchre, until at last 
they threw them down in the dirt, and laughed till they hal¬ 
looed again at their own unlucky gambols. Those, on the 
other hand, who had thus been made the laughing stocks of 
the crowd, ran in their turn after the others, in order to be 
equally mischievous, and to revenge themselves for the affront 
which the^r had received; in short, they all acted like a set of 
idle fools and merry-andrews. Every now and then they 
would lift up their eyes to Heaven, and hold up their wax-ta¬ 
pers, with outstretched arms, as if they implored the Almighty 
to send down his celestial fire to light them. After this folly 
and extravagance had continued till about three o’clock in the 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


195 


evening, two archbishops, and two Greek bishops, dressed in 
their patriarchal robes and coifs, marched out of the choir, 
attended by the clergy, and began their procession round 
the sepulchre: the Armenians likewise attended, with their 
clergy, followed by the Coptan bishop. After they had taken 
three solemn tours around the sepulchre, a Greek bishop 
came out of the Chapel of the Angel, which is at the 
entrance of the sepulchre, and informed the individual 
who personated the Patriarch of Jerusalem, that the sacred 
fire had descended from heaven. He then entered the Holy 
Sepulchre with a large bundle of wax-tapers in each hand, 
and after him the prelate, who represented the Armenian Pa¬ 
triarch, and the bishop of the Copti. Some short time after¬ 
wards, the Greek archbishop came out in a very whimsical 
posture, marching with his eyes cast upon the ground, and 
both his hands full of lighted wax-tapers. As soon as he ap¬ 
peared, the mob crowded upon one another’s shoulders, each 
pressed forwards, kicking one, and boxing another, to reach 
the prelate, for the purpose of lighting his taper by that which 
he held in his hand; because that fire which comes imme¬ 
diately from his, is looked upon to be the purest and most 
holy. In the mean time the Janizaries, who were the 
guards of the sepulchre, dealt their blows indiscrimi¬ 
nately about them, to make room for the archbishop, 
who used his utmost endeavours to get clear of the crowd. 
At last he came to a stone altar, which stood before the door 
of the choir, and opposite that of the holy sepulchre. Im¬ 
mediately the populace flocked round about him for some of his 
sacred fire ; but those who had lighted their tapers, in their en¬ 
deavours to retreat, were overpowered by others, who very de¬ 
voutly struck them with their fists, and took away the fire that 
had cost them so much labour and fatigue to procure: in 
short the gravest of them all threw down and trampled their 
neighbours under foot, to get close to the prelate. At last, the 
Greek archbishop withdrew, and the Armenian bishop re¬ 
tired to the church of the Armenians, and the Coptan bishop 
to that of the Copti. In the mean time, the Turks, who 
kept the door of the holy sepulchre, permitted none to 
enter but those who paid for lighting their wax tapers at 
the lamps of that sanctuary, as those lamps are the first that 
are touched by the sacred fire. In a few minutes after, the 
church was illuminated with above two thousand branches of 
blazing torches, whilst the numerous congregation, hooting 
like madmen, began to repeat their former frolics. A man, 
with a drum at his back, ran with all imaginable speed round 


196 


GREEK CIIURCI1 PROPER. 


the sacred sepulchre, and another ran after him, and drummed 
upon it with two sticks; when he was tired, a third supplied 
his place. Devotion, or rather custom, en joins the Greeks not to 
eat nor drink that day, till they have received the sacred fire.'’ 

Some ascribe the origin of this superstition to a real mira¬ 
cle, which they pretend was formerly wrought in the presence 
of the whole congregation on Easter-eve, in the church be¬ 
longing to the holy sepulchre. The Almighty sent down 
celestial flame into this divine monument, which kindled or 
lighted again all the lamps, which by the orders of the Church 
are extinguished in passion week, and thereby indulged them 
with new fire. Every one was an eye-wutness of the descent 
of this new flame from heaven, which darted from one place 
to another, and kindled every lamp and taper that was extin- $ 
guished. It is added also, that the Almighty, being provoked 
at the irregularities and disorders of the Christian Crusades, 
refused to work this miracle one Easter-eve, when they 
were assembled together in the most solemn manner, to be 
spectators of the descent of his celestial fire; but that at last, 
he vouchsafed to have mercy on them, and incline his ear to 
their fervent prayers, and repeated supplications. The descent 
of this holy fire continued for seven hundred and fifty years 
after the time of St. Jerome; but since that period, it has, 
owing to some reason not easily defined, been wholly discon¬ 
tinued : the most probable conjecture is, that the w r hole fraud 
was discovered, and an end was consequently put to the enact¬ 
ment of this religious farce. 

This ceremony of the sacred fire, which is so whimsical 
and extravagant, and so unbecoming the practice of a Christ¬ 
ian, has introduced another superstitious custom very conform¬ 
able to its romantic original. In this same church of the 
Holy Sepulchre, there are some men and women, w r ho have 
several pieces of linen cloth lying before them, w r hich they mark 
from one end to the other with a cross, made by the tapers 
kindled at the sacred fire. Thus marked, they serve for the 
shrouds or winding sheets of these good devotees, and are 
reserved for that solemn purpose, as the most sacred relics. 

Amongst the superstitious customs of the Greeks, may be 
included the marks, w r hich the pilgrims imprint upon their 
arms, and which they take care to produce as a certificate of 
their pilgrimage to Jerusalem. These marks are made with 
some particular wooden moulds, filled with charcoal-dust, and 
afterwards pressed hard upon the arm. As soon as the part is 
thus stamped, it is pricked with an instrument full of needles; 
it is then bound up, and a scurf or scab generally rises upon 


GREEK CHURCH PROPER. 


197 


the place, which falls off again in about two or three days; 
but the blue impression remains ever after. 

There is a stone still to be seen not far from Bethlehem, 
which is perfectly white, and which colour we are told is 
owing to the extraordinary virtue of the Blessed Virgin’s 
milk. The Greeks assure us, that this stone will infallibly 
fill a woman’s breast with milk; and even the Turks them¬ 
selves, and. the Arabians, are so strongly rivetted to the same 
belief, that they oblige their wives, who have sucking infants 
at their breasts, to take a little of the powder of this stone 
infused in water, in order that the above-mentioned desirable 
effect may be produced. Mount Sinai, Mount Horeb, the 
frontiers of the Holy Land, the Holy Land itself, in short, all 
the countries from the Red Sea to Jerusalem, are, as it were, 
so many sources which have immemorially supplied the 
Greeks with fictions, and their bigots with superstition. Upon 
Mount Horeb the Greeks pretend to show the place in which 
the prophet Jeremiah concealed the tables of the law, and a 
particular stone, on which are several Hebrew characters, 
carved by the prophet himself. According to this idea, they 
pay to this stone a superstitious homage, which consists of a 
number of prayers and innumerable signs of the cross, per¬ 
formed with the utmost hurry and precipitation, and conse¬ 
quently with very little zeal or devotion. 

The Greeks ascribe to the waters of Jordan, and almost all 
the fountains of the Holy Land, the supernatural virtue of 
healing several distempers. The plant generally known by 
the name of the Rose of Jericho , is in their opinion a sure 
defence against thunder and lightning, and a speedy relief for 
a woman in the time of her travail. A certain traveller, 
Morison , assures us, with an extraordinary air of piety and 
devotion, that this last quality is owing to the Blessed Virgin, 
of whom that vegetable is the figure or representation. 

SEC. II.-RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLES AND CUSTOMS OF THE 

RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 

It is impossible perhaps to settle with any certainty at what 
period, or by whom, Christianity was first introduced into 
Russia. What we learn with most appearance Introduction 
of probability is, that the Grand Duchess Olga , of Christianity 
or, as her name is pronounced, Olha, grandmo-. mt0 Russia - 
ther to Wladimir, was the first person of distinction converted 
to Christianity in Russia, about the year 955, and that she as¬ 
sumed the name of Helena, at her conversion ; under which 
17 * 


RUSSIAN CREEK CHURCH. 


198 

name she still stands as a saint in the Russian calendar. Me¬ 
thodius, and Cyril the philosopher, travelled from Greece into 
Moravia, about the year 900, to plant the gospel; where they 
translated the service of the church, or some parts of it, from 
the Greek into the Sclavonian language, the common language, 
at that time, of Moravia and Russia; and thus it is thought 
that this princess imbibed the first principles of Christianity. 
And. being herself fully persuaded of its truth, she was very 
earnest with her son, the Grand Duke Sviatoslav , to embrace 
it also; but this, from political motives, he declined to do. In 
the course, however, of a few years, Christianity is said to 
have made considerable progress in that nation. 

It is fully ascertained that, about the end of the tenth century, 
the Christian religion was introduced into Russia, chiefly 
through their connexion with Greece; and coming from this 
quarter, it was very natural that the doctrine and discipline of 
the church of Constantinople, should become at first the pat¬ 
tern of the church of Russia, which it still continues to follow 
in the greatest part of its offices. Hence likewise the patriarch 
of Constantinople formerly enjoyed the privilege of a spiritual 
supremacy over the Russians, to whom he sent a Metropoli¬ 
tan whenever a vacancy happened. 

Little occurred in the ecclesiastical history of Russia, except 
perhaps the rise of the sect of the Raskolniki, which excited 
considerable tumults and commotions in that kingdom, till 
Peter the Great ascended the throne of Russia; who, in the 
beginning of the eighteenth century, made some remarkable 
changes in the form and administration both of its civil and 
ecclesiastical government. 

This great prince made no change in the articles of faith 
received among his countrymen, which contain the doctrine of 
the Greek church ; but he took the utmost pains to have this 
doctrine explained in a manner conformable to the dictates of 
right reason, and the spirit of the gospel; and he used the 
most effectual methods to destroy, on the one hand, the influ¬ 
ence of that hideous superstition that sat brooding over the 
whole nation ; and, on the other, to dispel the ignorance of the 
clergy, which was incredible, and that of the people, which 
would have surpassed it, had that been possible. 

To crowm these noble attempts, he extinguished the spirit 
of persecution, and renewed and confirmed to Christians, of 
all denominations, liberty of conscience, and the privilege of 
performing divine worship in the manner prescribed by their 
respective liturgies and institutions. This liberty, however, 
was modified in such a manner, as to restrain and defeat any 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 


199 


attempts that might be made by the Jesuits and other members 
of the church of Rome, to promote the interests of Popery in 
Russia, or to extend the jurisdiction of the Roman pontiff be¬ 
yond the chapels of that communion that were tolerated by 
law; and particular charge was given to the council, to which 
belonged the cognizance of ecclesiastical affairs, to use their 
utmost care and vigilance to prevent the propagation of Romish 
tenets among the people. All this caution had, no doubt, 
arisen from the repeated efforts of the designing pontiffs of 
Rome and their missionaries to extend the papal empire over 
the Greek churches, under the pretence of uniting the two 
communions; and, with this view, a negotiation was entered 
into in 1580, under John Basilides , Grand Duke of Russia, 
who seems to have had political ends to answer in pretending 
to favour this union. But, although the professed object of 
this negotiation failed, the ministry of Possevin , the learned 
and artful Jesuit, who was charged with the mission on the 
part of the Roman pontiff, was not without fruit among the 
Russians, especially among those residing in the Polish 
dominions. 

Proposals for uniting the two communions have been made 
by different popes, as Honorius III., Gregory IX., Innocent 
IV., Gregory XIII., and last of all, by the Academy of Sor- 
bonne in 1718; but the Russian sovereigns and the nation have 
always remained firm and true to their religion : at the same 
time, all religions, without exception, are tolerated in Russia. 
In the year 1581, in the reign of Czar John Vasilievitz, Pope 
Gregory XIII., proposed to that sovereign that the Lutheran 
clergy should be banished from Russia; but he was answered, 
that in that country all nations have a free exercise of their 
religions; and now in Russia there are Lutherans, Calvinists, 
Hernhutters, Armenians, Jews, Mahometans, Pagans, Hindoos, 
&c. &c. Roman Catholics are to be met with in almost every 
government, particularly in those conquered from the Polish 
dominions : their clergy are governed by their own rulers, 
and are totally independent of the Russian ecclesiastical juris¬ 
diction. 

PeteT likewise introduced a considerable change into the 
manner of governing the church. The splendid dignity of 
patriarch, which approached too near the lustre and preroga¬ 
tives of majesty, not to be offensive to the emperor and burden¬ 
some to the people, was suppressed, in 1721, by this spirited 
monarch, who declared himself (and thus became, like the 
British monarch) head of the national church. 

The functions of this high and important office were entrust- 


200 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 


ed with a council assembled at St. Petersburg, which was 
called the Holy Synod; and one of the archbishops, the most 
distinguished by his integrity and prudence, was appointed as 
president of it. 

The other orders of the clergy continued in their respective 
rank and offices; but both their revenues and their authority 
were considerably diminished. It was resolved at first, in this 
general reformation, to abolish all monasteries and convents, 
as prejudicial to the public, and unfriendly to population ; but 
this resolution was not put in execution; on the contrary, the 
emperor himself erected a magnificent monastery in honour 
of Alexander Newsky, whom the Russians place in the list of 
their heroes and saints.* 

In her doctrines, the Russian Church agrees Avith the Greek 
Church; like her, she receives the seven sacraments or mys- 

Doctrines teries; allows no statues or graven images, but 
admits pictures and invocation of saints. 

During the celebration of the mass, the laity, not excepting 
the prince himself, are obliged either to stand or to kneel, and be 
uncovered; and to observe the same position 

Divine Ser- d ur j n or the performance of all the other parts of 

VlCC o x t t x 

divine service. Bergius, in his Slate of the 
Russian Church , assures us, however, that “ The ancient 
Russians always pray either standing, or prostrate upon the 
ground ; carefully avoiding the posture of kneeling, for fear 
they should be thought to imitate those soldiers who mocked 
the Lord Jesus Christ.” The Grand Duke, who sat on the 
throne in the time of Olearius, always prostrated himself to 
the ground when he attended public worship. For this reason 
there are no stools nor benches made use of in the Russian 
churches, except when there happens to be a homily read, or 
a sermon preached. No dogs are suffered to enter the church 
door; and every thing which has the least tendency to inter¬ 
rupt their devotions is prohibited. None but those who off! 
ciate at the altar are admitted into the sanctuary. The Czar, 
however, is allowed to enter it at the ceremony of his corona¬ 
tion, and when he receives the communion ; some others of 
the laity, who are persons of distinction, are likewise admitted 
into it, provided they take care to keep at a great distance from 
the altar. 

The Russian mass is always performed in the ancient Scla- 
vonian language ; and a great part of it is said in a low voice. 
Like the Greeks, the Russians bow down before the host, and 

* All Religions. 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 


201 


adore it. From the preface of the mass to the communion, 
the doors of the sanctuary are shut, and a curtain is drawn 
before it, which covers the altar: in Easter-week, however, the 
sanctuary doors are always open, even during mass. To the 
other ceremonies observed at the communion, in conformity 
with those of the Greeks, we must add, according to Olearius, 
that the Muscovites administer the sacrament to those who are 
deprived of their reason, by touching their lips only with the 
bread dipped in the wine ; that they are not allowed to give 
the communion to a woman who lies in, in the room where 
she was brought to bed;—those who have taken a false oath 
before a court of judicature, or have been guilty of any noto¬ 
rious crime, cannot receive this sacrament of the Eucharist, till 
they are at the point of death ; and that it is customary to give 
those who are sick, some water or some brandy, in which seve¬ 
ral of their sacred relics have been first infused, before they 
give them the communion. 

Their Bible is translated into the Sclavonian language from 
the Greek Septuagint; but they never suffer it to be carried 
into church, for fear of profaning it by the several immodest pas¬ 
sages that are to be met with in the Old Testament. It is the 
New Testament only, and some particular passages extracted 
from the Psalms and the Prophets, which are read in their 
churches ; they are, however, allowed to read the whole scrip¬ 
tures at home in private. 

In Father Le Brun’s Collection of Liturgies, we find the 
contents of a small Muscovite ritual, in which directions are 
laid down for the observance of the following customs : 1. Se¬ 
veral prayers to be read on the day that a woman is deli¬ 
vered of a male-infant. 2. On the eighth day after the birth of 
such infant, being the day on which he is to receive his name. 
3. On the fortieth day after her lying-in. 4. For a woman 
that has miscarried. 5. At an exorcism. 6. At a reconcilia¬ 
tion in Church. 7. On a divorce. 8. When the communion 
is to be administered to the sick. 9. Prayers to Jesus Christ, 
and the Blessed Virgin, for a true believer at the point of 
death. 10. The order or method to be observed at the burial 
of such persons who die during the festival of Easter, or in 
Holy week. 11. For a priest after his decease. 12. For the 
burial of an infant. 13. Prayers for a blessing on the pro¬ 
visions made for Easter ; for their cheese and eggs ; for their 
first fruits, and those who offer them ; for the consecration of 
a house, and the entering into possession of it; for sinking a 
well, and the purification of it when any filth has fallen into it. 
14. Prayers for those who have eaten any unclean meats. 


202 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 


15. Prayers for the purification of an unclean vessel. 16. For 
all sorts of grain ; for seed-time, &c. It is presumed that the 
foregoing will be sufficient to give the reader a tolerable idea 
of the several customs which are observed by the Russians on 
particular occasions, and the observance of which is especially 
enjoined by their ritual. 

One peculiar custom, however, we cannot omit; viz. that 
when they take possession of a house, they consecrate it at the 
same time with salt. Cornelius le Brun, in his Travels to 
Muscovy, gives us the following account of the consecration of 
the Czar’s palace, in 1702. “ The floor was strewed all over 

with hay, and on the right hand a table was placed, garnished 
out with abundance of large and little loaves ; over some of 
them was thrown a handful of salt, and a silver salt-cellar, full 
of salt, set upon others.” This custom of consecrating with 
salt, which is attended by all friends and relatives, is repeated 
for several days together, and is an emblem or token of that 
prosperity and success which they wish may attend them, and 
of their friendly hope that they may never afterwards want 
any of the necessaries of life. When they quit their habita¬ 
tions, they leave some hay and bread upon the floor, which 
are symbols of those blessings which they wish may attend 
those who take the house after their departure. 

The constitution of the Russian monks, their fasts, and their 
profound ignorance, are much the same as those of the Greek 
monks. Peter the Great was the first who attempted to lay a 
duty, or tax, upon the convents; he commanded that no persons 
should be admitted into them but those who were fifty years of 
age, or upwards, he having observed that a considerable num¬ 
ber of able young fellows Avere shut up in them, and thereby 
rendered useless to the state. 

The Russians have a peculiar regard for relics, images, 
and pictures of saints ;—for the invocation of saints, the cru- 

Relics Ima C ^ X ’ anc ^ t ^ ie s ^o n °f ^ le cross j for an infinite 
ges, &c.’ ' number of inclinations, genuflexions, and pros¬ 

trations, not only before those objects which are 
adorable, but those likewise which demand only a common 
re\ r erence and esteem ; and also for numberless processions 
and pilgrimages. The cathedral church at Moscow is in 
possession of the garment of Jesus Christ, and a picture of 
the Blessed Virgin, drawn by St. Luke ! The Russians look 
upon this picture, as the palladium of their state. Other 
churches boast of being possessed of the bodies of several 
Russian saints ; and thirty-six gold and silver shrines, full of 
very valuable relics, are to be seen in the church of the 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 


203 


Annunciation. These shrines, or boxes, are said to contain, 
amongst other things, some of the precious blood of the Lord 
Jesus Christ; one of the hands of St. Mark, and some of the 
bones of the prophet Daniel, &c. 

Their images or pictures, which are generally painted in 
oil upon wood, must be made by some Muscovite, and are 
sold, or, according to their prevaricating phraseology, ex¬ 
changed or bartered for a certain sum of money. To sell 
them is looked upon as a sin: but in the time of Olearius, 
the patriarch would not suffer any foreigners to have them 
in their houses for fear they should profane them. This 
precaution was carried to so high a pitch, that a Dutchman 
having purchased a house that was built with stone, the 
Russian who sold it scraped the wall on which the picture of 
a saint had been painted, and carried the rubbish off the pre¬ 
mises. 

Every Russian, whether his condition be high or low, has 
his own titular saint, to whom he offers up his morning and 
evening prayers, and whom he neglects not to consult on all 
occasions of a doubtful or hazardous nature. In the shops at 
St. Petersburg, an image of this titular saint is always placed 
in a conspicuous position, and you cannot possibly pay a 
higher compliment to a Russian than in entering his shop to 
make your obeisance to his favourite saint. A Russian shop 
keeper is a notorious cheat, but if you have paid a becoming 
respect to his saint, it is supposed that you are immediately 
admitted into his good graces, and although the majority of 
the saints were themselves the most consummate cheats and 
impostors, yet it is believed that they do not sanction similar 
practices in others. For this reason, a familiar nod or a polite 
bow to a Russian image becomes, in many instances, a posi¬ 
tive act of good policy, for you thereby stand a good chance 
of escaping from the cheating and exorbitant demands of the 
Russian trader. 

The walls of their churches are all covered with pictures, 
which are not only representations of Jesus Christ, and the 
Blessed Virgin, but of St. Nicholas, and several other saints, 
whom the Russians have made choice of for their patrons and 
protectors. In all their houses, a picture of some favourite 
saint is hung near one of the windows, with a wax-taper be¬ 
fore it: several are likewise hung up in the streets, as objects 
of public devotion; but the majority of the latter, according to 
Carlisle, are secured in glass-cases, and exposed to public 
view, either on the city gates or the church-doors; or they are 
suspended on some cross-road. If a Russian be in the greatest 


204 


RUSSIAN CREEK CHURCH. 


haste, he must pay his respects to the pictures of these saints : 
not in a transient, careless manner, but he must stop a minute 
or two, to put up a short ejaculation; standing bare-headed, 
making half-a-dozen profound bows, and as many crosses. 
The first thing that must be done, when any one enters a 
Russian’s apartment, is to take notice of the picture of his 
saint, making the sign of the cross, at the same time repeating 
the Hospodi , (Lord have mercy upon us,) and bowing before 
it; after that he pays his compliments to the master of the 
house. Amongst the poorer sort, with -whom the pictures of 
their saints are generally situated in some dark hole or cor¬ 
ner, without any wax-taper, or the least outward appearance 
of distinction or respect; the devout Russian, for fear he should 
be in any way deficient in the discharge of his duty, never 
fails to ask where the God is, that is to say, the picture of the 
saint. This religious respect is grounded on that divinity, 
which the Russians ascribe to their images, and on the num¬ 
berless miracles which they believe to have been wrought by 
them. However, this supernatural power does not hinder 
these images from falling to decay: and in such cases they 
inter them in their church-yards, or in their gardens: some¬ 
times indeed they put them, with much care and reverence, 
into some rapid stream, that the current may carry them 
away; for to throw them in would be looked upon as an act 
of disrespect. 

The invocation of saints constitutes a considerable part of 
the religious worship of the Russians ; but greater demonstra¬ 
tions of respect are shown to St. Nicholas than to any of the 
rest. It is customary, in Russia, to mention God and the Czar 
at the same time, when they have any affair of importance to 
transact: thus, they frequently say, God is powerful as ivell 
as the Czar. With God and the Czar's permission. But 
they often substitute St. Nicholas in the room of Providence; 
as for instance, when any one asks them how long they in¬ 
tend to be on a journey, they w T ill answer, as long as St. 
Nicholas shall think convenient. Their devotees go in pil- 
grimage^for the most part, to those places where their saints 
have especially distinguished themselves. The Czars them¬ 
selves are not excused or exempted from these religious pere¬ 
grinations ; at least they were performed by the predecessors 
of Peter the Great. 

A number of ceremonies and superstitious customs among 
the Russians, nearly equals that of the Romish Church. A 

Benediction ^ ew °f th ese we shall notice; and first -we will 
of Waters. describe a singular festival which the Russians 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 


205 


call the Benediction of the Waters. This solemnity is cele¬ 
brated at the beginning 1 of the year at Petersburg, in the follow¬ 
ing manner: on the river Neva , upon the ice, which is then 
strong in that country, there is erected for this ceremony, a 
kind of temple of wood, usually of an octagonal figure, painted 
and richly gilt, having the inside decorated with various sacred 
pictures, representing the baptism of our Saviour, his transfigu¬ 
ration, and some other parts of his life, and on the top a picture 
of St. John the Baptist. This is called the Jordan , which 
name used to signify the baptistry or font, or any basin in 
which holy water is consecrated. There the attention of the 
spectators is drawn to a large emblem of the Holy Ghost , ap¬ 
pearing to descend from heaven, a decoration common to al¬ 
most all Greek churches, in which a peristerion, or dove, as a 
symbol of the Holy Ghost, is usually suspended from four 
small columns which support a canopy over the Holy Table. 
The Jordan is surrounded by a temporary hedge of the boughs 
of fir-trees; and, in the middle of the sanctuary or chancel is a 
square space, where the broken ice leaves a communication 
with the water running below, and the rest is ornamented with 
rich tapestry. Around this temple a kind of gallery is erected, 
and a platform of boards, covered with red cloth, is laid for the 
procession to go upon, guarded also by a fence of boughs. 
The gallery communicates with one of the windows of the 
imperial palace, at which the emperor and his family come 
out to attend the ceremony, which begins as soon as the liturgy 
is finished in the chapel of the imperial palace, and the regi¬ 
ments of guards have taken post on the river. Then, at the 
sound of the bells, and of the artillery of the fortress, the clerks, 
the deacons, the priests, the archimandrites, and the bishops, 
dressed in their richest robes, carrying in their hands lighted 
tapers, the censer, the Gospel, and the sacred pictures and ban¬ 
ners, proceed from the chapel to the Jordan, singing the hymns 
appointed in the office, and followed by the emperor, the grand 
duke, the senators, and the whole court. 

When arrived at the place where the ice is broken, the arch¬ 
bishop of Moscow, or other officiating bishop, descends, by 
means of a ladder, to the side of the water. There he reads 
the prayers appointed in the office,—dips his cross three times, 
and ends the ceremony by an exhortation appropriate to it; 
and the waters are then -thought to be blessed. As soon as 
the service is finished, the artillery and soldiers fire; after 
which the prelate sprinkles the water on the company around 
him, and on the colours of all the regiments that happen to 
be at Petersburg, which are planted round the Jordan. He 

18 


206 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 


then retires, when the people crowd towards the hole, and 
drink of the waters with a holy avidity. “ Notwithstanding 
the cold, the mothers plunge their infants, and the old men 
their heads into them. Every body makes it a duty to carry 
away some for the purification of their houses, and curing 
certain distempers, against which the good Russians pretend 
this holy water is a powerful specific.” 

No people observe Lent with more scrupulous and excessive 
rigour than the Russians. Travelling the road from Petersburg 

j^ ent to Moscow r , says Dr. Clarke, in his travels, if at any 
time, in poor cottages, where the peasants appear¬ 
ed starving, I offered them a part of our dinner, they would 
shudder at the sight of it, and cast it to the dogs; dashing out 
of their children’s hands, as an abomination, any food given 
to them; and removing every particle that might be left, en¬ 
tirely from their sight. In drinking tea with a Cossack, he 
not only refused to have milk in his cup, but would not use 
a spoon that had been in the tea offered him with milk, 
although wiped carefully in a napkin, until it had passed 
through scalding water. The same privation prevails among 
the higher ranks; but, in proportion as this rigour has been- 
observed, so much the more excessive is the degree of gluttony 
and relaxation, when the important intelligence that “ Christ is 
risen ” has issued from the mouth of the archbishop. During 
Easter, they run into every kind of excess, rolling about 
drunk the whole week; as if rioting, debauchery, extrava¬ 
gance, gambling, drinking, and fornication, were as much a 
religious observance, as starving had been before; and that 
the same superstition which kept them fasting during Lent, 
had afterwards instigated them to the most beastly excesses. 

Even their religious customs are perfectly adapted to their 
climate and manners. Nothing can be contrived with more 
ingenious policy to suit the habits of the Russians. When 
Lent fasting begins, their stock of frozen provisions is either 
exhausted, or unfit for use; and the interval which takes 
place allows sufficient time for procuring, killing, and storing, 
the fresh provisions of the spring. The night before the 
famous ceremony of the resurrection, all the markets and shops 
of Moscow', are seen filled with flesh, butter, eggs, poultry, 
pigs, and every kind of viand. The crowd of purchasers is 
immense. You hardly meet a foot passenger who has not 
his hands, nay his arms, filled with provisions; or a single 
droski that is not ready to break dow r n beneath their weight. 

The first ceremony which took place, previous to all this 
feasting, w r as that of the Paqne Jleuries , or Talm Sunday. On 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 


207 


the eve of this day, all the inhabitants of Moscow resort, in 
carriages, on horseback, or on foot, to the Kremlin, for the 
purchase of palm-branches, to place before their boghs, and to 
decorate the sacred pictures in the streets, or elsewhere. It is 
one of the gayest promenades of the year. The governor, 
attended by the maitre cle police, the commandant, and a train 
of nobility, go in procession mounted on fine horses. The 
streets are lined by spectators; and cavalry are stationed on 
each side, to preserve order. Arriving in the Kremlin, a 
vast assembly, bearing artificial bouquets and boughs, are seen 
moving here and there, forming the novel and striking specta¬ 
cle of a gay and moving forest. The boughs consist of arti¬ 
ficial flowers, with fruit. Beautiful representations of oranges 
and lemons in wax are sold for a few copeeks* each, and offer 
a proof of the surprising ingenuity of this people in the arts of 
imitation. Upon this occasion, every person who visits the 
Kremlin, and would be thought a true Christian, purchases 
one or more of the boughs, called Palm-branches; and in 
returning, the streets are crowded with droskis, and all kinds 
of vehicles, filled with devotees, holding in their hands one or 
more palm-branches, according to the degree of their piety, or 
the number of boghs in their houses. 

The description often given of the splendour of the equi¬ 
pages in Moscow, but ill agrees with their appearance during 
Lent. A stranger, who arrives, with his head full of notions 
of Asiatic pomp, and eastern magnificence, would be sur¬ 
prised to find narrow streets, execrably paved, covered by 
mud or dust; wretched looking houses on each side: car¬ 
riages, drawn it is true, by six horses, but such cattle! blind, 
lame, old, out of condition, of all sizes and all colours, con¬ 
nected by rotten ropes and old cords, full of knots and splices: 
on the leaders and on the box, figures that seem to have 
escaped from the galleys; behind, a lousy, ragged lackey, or 
perhaps two, with countenances exciting more pity than deri¬ 
sion; and the carriage itself like the worst of the night- 
coaches in London. But this external wretchedness, as far 
as it concerns the equipages of the nobles, admits of some 
explanation. The fact is, that a dirty, tattered livery, a rotten 
harness, bad horses, and a shabby vehicle, constitute one part 
of the privation of the season. On Easter Monday the most 
gaudy but fantastic buffoonery of splendour fills every street 
in the city. The emperor, it is true, in his high considera¬ 
tion for the welfare and happiness of his subjects, deemed it 

* The copeek equals in value an English halfpenny. 


208 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 


expedient to adapt the appearance to the reality of their 
wretchedness: and in restraining the excessive extravagance 
of the people of Moscow, evinced more wisdom, than the 
world have given him credit for possessing. 

The second grand ceremony of this season takes place on 
Thursday before Easter at noon, when the archbishop washes 
the feet of the apostles. This we also witnessed. The priests 
appeared in their most gorgeous apparel. Twelve monks, 
designed to represent the twelve apostles, were placed in a 
semicircle before the archbishop. The ceremony is performed 
in the cathedral, which is crowded with spectators. The 
archbishop, performing all and much more than is related of 
our Saviour in the thirteenth chapter of St. John, takes off his 
robes, girds up his loins with a towel, and proceeds to wash 
the feet of them all, until he comes to the representative of 
Peter, who rises; and the same interlocution takes place be¬ 
tween him and the archbishop, which is said to have taken 
place between our Saviour and that apostle. 

The third, and most magnificent ceremony of all, is cele¬ 
brated two hours after midnight, in the morning of Easter 
Sunday. It is called the ceremony of the resurrection, and 
certainly exceeded every thing of the kind celebrated at Rome, 
or any where else. I have not seen so splendid a sight in 
any Roman Catholic country; not even that of the benediction 
by the pope during the hoi}'- week. 

At midnight the great bell of the cathedral tolled. Its 
vibrations seemed the rolling of distant thunder; and they 
were instantly accompanied by the noise of all the bells in 
Moscow. J Every inhabitant was stirring, and the rattling of 
carriages in the streets was greater than at noonday. The 
whole city was in a blaze; for lights were seen in all the 
windows, and innumerable torches in the streets. The tower 
of the cathedral was illuminated from its foundation to its 
cross. The same ceremony takes place in all the churches; 
and, what is truly surprising, considering their number, it is 
said they are all equally crowded. 

We hastened to the cathedral, which was filled with a 
prodigious assembly of all ranks and sexes, bearing lighted 
wax tapers, to be afterwards heaped as vows on the different 
shrines. The walls, ceilings, and every part of this building, 
is covered by the pictures of saints and martyrs. In the mo¬ 
ment of our arrival the doors were shut; and on the outside 
appeared Plato, the archbishop, preceded by banners and 
torches and followed by all his train of priests with crucifixes 
and censers, who were making three times, in procession, 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 


209 


the tour of the cathedral; chaunting with loud voices, and 
glittering in sumptuous vestments, covered by gold, silver, and 
precious stones. The snow had not melted so rapidly in the 
Kremlin as in the streets of the city;'and this magnificent 
procession was therefore constrained to move upon planks 
over the deep mud which surrounded the cathedral. After 
completing the third circuit, they all halted opposite the great 
doors, which were shut; and the archbishop, with a censer, 
scattered incense against the doors, and over the priests. 
Suddenly those doors were opened, and the effect was beyond 
description great. The immense throng of spectators within, 
bearing innumerable tapers, formed two lines, through which 
the archbishop entered, advancing with his train to a throne 
near the centre. The profusion of lights in all parts of the 
cathedral, and, among others, of the enormous chandalier 
which hung from the centre, the richness of the dresses, and 
the vastness of the assembly, filled us with astonishment. 
Having joined the suite of the archbishop, we accompanied 
the procession, and passed even to the throne, on which the 
police officers permitted us to stand, among the priests, near 
an embroidered stool of satin, placed for the archbishop. The 
loud chorus, which burst forth at the entrance to the church, 
continued as the procession moved towards the throne, and 
after the archbishop had taken his seat; when my attention 
was, for a moment, called off by seeing one of the Russians 
earnestly crossing himself with his right hand, while his left 
was employed in picking my companion’s pocket of his 
handkerchief. 

Soon after, the archbishop descended, and went all round 
the cathedral; first offering incense to the priests, and then to 
the people, as he passed along. When he had returned to his 
seat, the priests, two by two, performed the same ceremony; 
beginning with the archbishop, who rose and made obeisance 
with a lighted taper in his hand. From the moment the 
church doors were opened, the spectators had continued bow¬ 
ing their heads, and crossing themselves; insomuch that some 
of the people seemed really exhausted, by the constant motion 
of the head and hands. 

I had now leisure to examine the dresses and figures of the 
priests, which were certainly the most striking I ever saw. 
Their long dark hair, without powder, fell down in ringlets, 
or strait and thick, far over their rich robes and shoulders. 
Their dark thick beards also, entirely covered their breasts. 
On the heads of the archbishop and bishops were high caps, 
covered with gems, and adorned by miniature paintings set. in 
18 * 


210 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 


jewels, of the crucifixion, the virgin, and the saints. Their 
robes of various coloured satin, were of the most costly em¬ 
broidery, and even on these were miniature pictures set with 
precious stones. 

Such, according to the consecrated legend of ancient days, 
was the appearance of the high-priests of old, Aaron and his 
sons, holy men standing by the temple of the congregation in 
fine raiments, the workmanship of “ Bezaleel, the son of Uri, 
the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.” It is said there is a 
convent in Moscow where the women are entirely employed 
in working dresses for the priests. 

After two hours had been spent in various ceremonies, the 
archbishop advanced, holding forth a cross, which all the 
people crowded to embrace, squeezing each other nearly to 
suffocation. As soon, however, as their eagerness had been 
somewhat satisfied, he retired to the sacristy; where putting 
on a plain purple robe, he again advanced, exclaiming three 
times, in a'very loud voice: Christ is risen l 

The most remarkable part of the solemnity now followed. 
The archbishop, descending into the body of the church, con¬ 
cluded the whole ceremony by crawling round the pavement 
on his hands and knees, kissing the consecrated pictures, 
whether on the pillars, the walls, the altars, or the tombs; 
the priests and all the people imitating his example. Sepul¬ 
chres were opened, and the mummied bodies of incorruptible 
saints exhibited, all of which underwent the same general 
kissing. 

Thus was Easter proclaimed; and riot and debauchery 
instantly broke loose. The inn in which we lodged became 
a pandemonium. Drinking, dancing, and singing, continued 
through the night and day. But, in the midst of all these 
excesses, quarrels hardly ever took place. The wild rude 
riot of a Russian populace is full of humanity. Few disputes 
are heard; no blows are given ; no lives endangered, but by 
drinking. No meetings take place of any kind, without 
repeating the expressions of peace and joy, Christos voscress! 
Christ is risen! to which the answer is always the same, 
Vo istiney voscress ! He is risen indeed! 

On Easter Monday begins the presentation of the paschal 
eggs: lovers to their mistresses, relatives to each other, ser¬ 
vants to their masters, all bring ornamented eggs. Every 
offering, aUhis season, is called a paschal egg. The mean¬ 
est pauper in the street, presenting an egg, and repeating the 
words Christos voscress , may demand a salute, even of the 
empress. All business is laid aside: the upper ranks are 


RUSSIAN GRUEK CHURCH. 


211 


engaged in visiting, balls, dinners, suppers, and masquerades; 
while boors fill the air with their songs, or roll drunk about 
the streets. Servants appear in new and tawdry liveries; and 
carriages in the most sumptuous parade.* 

The form of baptism amongst the Russians is so singular 
that we must give a particular description of it. As soon 
as an infant comes into the world, the parents Baptism, 
send immediately for a priest to purify him. 

This purification extends to all those who are present at 
the ceremony. They baptise their infants, according to Olea- 
rius, as soon as they are born ; but according to other histo¬ 
rians, those who are in good circumstances are not so strict, 
but defer the ceremony for some time. The godfathers 
and godmothers of the first child must stand sureties for 
all the other children in that family, however great may be 
the number. After entering the church, these godfathers 
deliver nine wax tapers into the hands of the priest, who illu¬ 
mines them all, and sticks them in the form of a cross about 
the font or vessel in which the infant is to be baptized. The 
priest then thurifies the godfathers, and consecrates the water; 
and after that he and the godfathers go thrice in procession 
round it. The clerk, who marches in the front, carries the 
picture of St. John. After this, they all arrange themselves 
in such a manner that their backs are turned towards the 
font, as a testimony, says Olearius, of their aversion to the 
thr6e questions which the priest proposes to the godfathers; 
that is to say, 1st, “ Whether the child renounces the devil? 
2dly, Whether he abjures his angels 1 and, 3dly, Whether he 
abhors and detests their impious works ?”—At each question, 
the godfathers answer yes , and spit upon the ground. The 
exorcism follows, which is performed out of the church, lest 
the devil, as he comes out of the infant, should pollute or pro¬ 
fane it. 

After the exorcism is over, the priest cuts some hair off the 
child’s head in the form of a cross, and puts it into a book, or 
■wraps it up in wax, and deposits it in some particular place 
belonging to the church appropriated for that purpose. The 
baptism which ensues is performed by a triple immersion, as 
we have before observed with respect to the Greeks. The 
priest having now put a grain of salt into the infant’s mouth, 
anoints him several times in the form of a cross, which may 
properly enough be called his confirmation ; and as he puts on 
him a clean shirt, he says, Thou art now as clean as this shirt , 


* Clarke’s Travels. 


212 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 


and purified from the stain of original sin. To conclude this 
ceremony, a little gold or sil ver cross, or one of inferior value, 
according as the circumstances of the parent will best admit 
of is hung about the infant’s neck, which is the badge or token 
of his baptism. He must wear this not only as long as he 
lives, but carry it with him to his grave. To this cross must 
be added some saint, appointed by the priest to be his guardian 
and protector, the picture of whom he delivers into the god¬ 
fathers’ hands, and in express terms charges them to instruct 
the child in what manner he may pay a peculiar respect and 
veneration to his patron saint. After the baptism is over, the 
priest salutes the infant and his sponsors. 

It is to be observed, that all matrimonial alliances between 
godfathers and the children for whom they are thus solemnly 
engaged, are prohibited amongst the Russians ; also, that the 
water in the font or cistern is changed every new baptism; 
because they are of opinion that it is defiled or tainted with . 
the original sin of those who were previously baptized in it. 
Those who become proselytes to the Russian religion, are 
baptized in some rapid stream, or some adjacent river, in 
which they are plunged three times successively; and if it 
happens in the winter-season, there is a hole broken in the ice 
for the performance of that ordinance. If, however, the person 
should be of too weak a constitution to undergo such a violent 
initiation , a barrel full of water is poured over his head three 
times successively, 

After the baptism is over, the priest takes the infant newly 
baptized, and with his head makes a cross upon the church- 
door, at which he knocks three times with a hammer ; each 
stroke must be so loud that those who were eye witnesses of 
the baptism shall hear the sound of it, for otherwise they do 
not look upon the infant as duly baptized. 

In the evening of their wedding-day, the bridegroom, ac¬ 
companied by a numerous train of his nearest relations and 

Marriage, acquaintance, proceeds to wait on his mistress; 

the priest who is to solemnize their nuptials riding 
on horseback before them. After the congratulations, and 
other compliments, customary on such joyful occasions in all 
countries, the company sit down to table. “ But notwithstand¬ 
ing there are three elegant dishes instantly served up,” says 
Olearius, “ no one takes the freedom to taste of th@*n.” At the 
upper end of the table is a vacant seat intended for the bride¬ 
groom. Whilst he is in earnest discourse with the bride’s 
relations, some young gentleman takes possession of his chair, 
and does not resign it without some valuable consideration. 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 213 

As soon as the bridegroom has thus redeemed his seat, the 
bride is introduced into the room, dressed as gaily as possible, 
but covered with a veil. A curtain of crimson taffeta, sup¬ 
ported by two young gentlemen, now parts the lovers, and 
prevents them from stealing any amorous glances from each 
others' eyes. In the next place, the bride’s Suacha, or agent, 
wreathes her hair, and after she has turned up her tresses, 
puts a crown upon her head, which is either of gold or silver 
gilt, and lined with silk, and of greater or less value, in pro¬ 
portion to the quality or circumstances of the person for whom 
it is intended. The other Suacha is employed in setting the 
bridegroom off to the best advantage. During this interval, 
some women that are present, sing a number of little merry 
catches to divert them ; whilst the bridemaids strew hops up¬ 
on the heads of the company. Two lads, after this, bring in 
a large cheese, and several rolls or little loaves, in a hand 
basket, with curious sable tassels to it. Two of the bride’s 
attendants bring in another cheese, and the same quantity 
of bread, upon her particular account. All these provisions, 
after the priest has blessed them, are carried to the church. 
At last, there is a large silver basin set upon the table, 
full of small remnants of satin and taffeta, with several 
small square pieces of silver, hops, barley, and oats, all 
mingled together. The Suacha, after she has put the bride’s 
veil over her face again, takes several handfuls of this 
medley out of the basin, and strews it over the heads of all the 
company. The next ceremony is the exchange of their re¬ 
spective rings, which is performed by the parents of the new 
married couple. The Suacha now conducts the bride to 
church, and the bridegroom follows with the priest, who, for 
the most part, indulges himself in drinking to that excess, that 
he is obliged to have two attendants to support him, not only 
w T hilst he rides on horseback to the church, but all the time 
he is there performing the matrimonial service. 

One part of the pavement of the church, where the ceremony 
is performed, is covered with crimson taffeta, and another piece 
of the same silk is spread over it, where the bride and bride¬ 
groom are appointed to stand. The priest, before he enters 
upon his office, demands their oblations, which consist in fish, 
pastry, &c. Then he gives them his benediction, and holds 
over their heads the pictures of those saints, who were made 
choice of to be their patrons. After which, taking the right 
hand of the bridegroom and the left of the bride within his 
own hands, he asks them three times, “ Whether they sincere¬ 
ly consent to, and approve of their marriage, and whether they 


214 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 


will love each other for the future as is their bounden duty so 
to do ?” When they have answered Yes, all the company in 
general take hands, and join in a solemn dance, whilst the 
priest sings the 128th Psalm (according to the Hebrew com¬ 
putation) in which almost all the blessings that attend the 
married state are enumerated. The priest, as soon as the 
Psalm is finished, puts a garland of rue upon their heads; but 
if the man be a widower, or the woman a widow, then he lays 
it upon their shoulders. The blessing attendant on this cere¬ 
mony begins with these words, Increase and multiply; and 
concludes with that other solemn direction, which the Russians 
never understand in a rigorous sense, Whom God hath joinea, 
let no man put asunder. As soon as this form of words is 
pronounced, all the company light their wax tapers, and one 
of them presents the priest with a glass of wine, which be 
drinks, and the newly-married couple pledge him. This is 
done thrice, and then the bride and bridegroom dash their 
glasses down upon the floor, and tread the pieces under their 
feet, denouncing several maledictions on all those, who shall 
hereafter endeavour to set them at variance. At the same 
time several women strew linseed and hemp-seed upon their 
heads. 

After this ceremony is over, the usual congratulations are 
repeated, with such other demonstrations of gayety and re¬ 
joicing as generally accompany the nuptial rites in other 
countries. We must not omit one circumstance, however, 
which is merry and innocent enough: the women before- 
mentioned take fast hold of the bride’s gown, in order to com¬ 
pel her, as it were, to forsake her husband; but the bride 
usually maintains so strong a hold of him, that all their en¬ 
deavours prove ineffectual. 

Their nuptial ceremonies thus far concluded, the bride goes 
home in a Russian car or sledge, attended by six flambeaux, 
and the bridegroom on horseback. The company come after 
them. As soon as they are all within doors, the bridegroom 
sits down at the table with his friends ; but the women conduct 
the bride to her bed-chamber, and put her to bed. Afterwards 
some young gentlemen wait on the bridegroom with their 
wax tapers in their hands, and conduct him to his lady’s apart¬ 
ment. As soon as they are within the chamber, they deposit 
their lights upon the hogsheads that surround the nuptial bed. 
The bride, wrapped up in her nightgown, now jumps out of 
bed, approaches her husband with much respect, and makes 
him a very submissive and respectful obeisance. This is the 
first moment, according to Olearius, that the husband has any 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 


215 


opportunity of seeing his wife unveiled. They then sit down 
to table, and sup together. Amongst other dishes, there is a 
roast fowl set before them, which the husband tears to pieces, 
throwing that part which he holds in his hands, whether it be 
the leg or the wing, over his shoulder, and eating the remain¬ 
der. Here the ceremony ends. 

The spectators now withdraw, and the newly-married couple 
go to bed, after crossing themselves, and addressing a short 
prayer to the pictures of their patron saints. An old domestic 
servant stands sentinel at the chamber-door, whilst some of the 
company w r ho are more superstitious than the rest, spend the 
interval in using enchantments for a happy consummation of 
this love adventure. The following days are spent in all 
imaginable demonstrations of joy and rejoicing. The men in¬ 
dulge themselves in drinking to excess, whilst the husband 
carouses with his friends, and drowns his senses in intoxica¬ 
ting liquors. 

The Russian funeral solemnities are as remarkable in all 
respects as their nuptial ceremonies. As soon as a sick person 
has expired, they send for the relations and friends 
of the deceased, who place themselves about the ^ Funeral So- 
corpse, and weep over it if they can. There are 1 1 
women likewise who attend as mourners, and ask the de¬ 
ceased “ What was the cause of his death? Were his cir¬ 
cumstances narrow and perplexed ? Did he want either the 
necessaries or conveniences of life ?” &c. The relatives of 
the deceased now make the priest a present of some strong 
beer, brandy, and metheglin, that he may pray for the repose 
of the soul of the deceased. In the next place, the corpse is 
well washed, dressed in clean linen, or wrapped in a shroud, 
and shod vyith Russia leather, and put into a coffin, the arms 
being- laid over the stomach, in the form of a cross. The 
Russians make their coffins of the trunks of hollowed trees, 
and cover them with cloth, or at least with the great coat of 
the deceased. The corpse is not carried, however, to church, 
til 1 it has been kept eight or ten days at home, if the season 
or circumstances of the deceased will admit of such a delay; 
for it is a received opinion, that the longer they stay in this 
world, the better reception they will meet with in the next. 
The priest thurifies the corpse, and sprinkles it with holy 
water, till the very day of its interment. 

The funeral procession is ranged or disposed in the fol¬ 
lowing manner. A priest marches in the front, carrying the 
image of the particular saint who was made choice of as pa¬ 
tron of the deceased at the time he was baptized. Four young 


216 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. . 


virgins, who are the nearest relations to the deceased, and the 
chief mourners, follow him; or, for want of such female friends, 
the same number of women are hired to attend, and to perform 
that melancholy office. After them comes the corpse, carried 
on the shoulders of six bearers. If the party deceased be a 
monk or a nun, the brothers or sisters of the convent to which 
they belonged perform this last friendly office for them. Seve¬ 
ral friends march on either side of the corpse, thurifying it, and 
singing as they go along, to drive away the evil spirits, and 
to prevent them from hovering round about it. The relations 
and friends bring up the rear, each having a wax taper in hi$ 
hand. As soon as they are arrived at the grave, the coffin is 
uncovered, and the image of the deceased’s favourite saint is 
laid over him, whilst the priest repeats some prayers suitable 
to the solemn occasion, or reads some particular passages out 
of the liturgy. After that, the relations and friends bid their 
last sad adieu, either by saluting the deceased himself, or the 
coffin in which he is interred. The priest, in the next place, 
comes close to his side, and puts his passport or certificate in¬ 
to his hand, which is signed by the archbishop, and likewise 
by his father confessor, who sell it at a dearer or cheaper rate, 
according to the circumstances or quality of those who pur¬ 
chase it. This billet is a testimonial of the virtue and good 
actions of the deceased, or at least, of his sincere repentance 
of all his sins. When a person at the point of expiring is so 
happy as to have the benediction of his priest, and after his de¬ 
cease, his passport in his hand, his immediate reception into 
heaven is, in their opinion, infallibly secured. The priest 
always recommends the deceased to the favour and protection 
of St. Nicholas. To conclude, the coffin is nailed up and let 
down into the grave, the face of the deceased being turned to¬ 
wards the east. The friends and relations now take their last 
farewell in unfeigned tears, or at least, in seeming sorrow and 
concern, which are expressed by mourners w r ho are hired for 
that purpose. 

The Russians frequently distribute money and provisions 
amongst the poor who hover round the grave; but it is a very 
common custom amongst them, according to Olearius, “ to 
drown their sorrow and afiiiction in metheglin , and in bran¬ 
dy and it too often happens that they get drunk on those 
occasions, in commemoration of their deceased friends. 

During their mourning, which continues forty days, they 
make three funeral entertainments, that is to say, on the third, 
the ninth, and the twentieth day after the interment. A priest, 
who is contracted with for that purpose, must spend some time 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 


217 

in prayer for the consolation and repose of the soul of the de¬ 
ceased every night and morning, for forty days successively 
in a tent, which is erected on that occasion over the grave of 
the deceased. They commemorate their dead likewise once 
a year ; this ceremony consists principally in mourning over 
their tombs, and in taking care that they be duly performed 
with incense by some of their mercenary priests, who, besides 
the fee or gratuity which they receive for their incense, (or 
more properly the small quantity of wax with which they 
thurify the tombs,) make an advantage likewise of the various 
provisions which are frequently brought to such places, or of 
the alms which are left there, and intended by the donors for 
the relief and maintenance of the poor; for the Russian no¬ 
bility and gentry hope to atone, by their charitable donations, 
for their manifold and inhuman acts of oppression. 

We shall add in this place an interesting account of the 
burial of Prince Galitzin, in Moscow, taken from Dr. Clarke’s 
Travels, who was an eye witness of the ceremony. Burial of 

This ceremony was performed in a small church Prince Galit- 
near the Mareschal bridge. The body was laid zin ’ 
in a superb crimson coffin, richly embossed with silver, and 
placed beneath the dome of the church. On a throne, raised 
at the head of the coffin, stood the archbishop, who read the 
service. On each side were ranged the inferior clergy, 
clothed, as usual, in the most costly robes, bearing in their 
hands wax tapers, and burning incense. The ceremony began 
at ten in the morning. Having obtained admission to the 
church, we placed ourselves among the spectators, immediately 
behind his grace. The chanting had a solemn and sublime 
effect. It seemed as if choristers were placed in the upper 
part of the dome, which, perhaps, was really the case. The 
words uttered were only a constant repetition of “ Lord have 
mercy upon us /” or, in Russian, “ Ghospodi pomilui /” When 
the archbishop turned to give his benediction to all the people, 
he observed us, and added in Latin, “ Pas vobiscum to the 
astonishment of the Russians; who not comprehending the 
new words introduced into the service, muttered among them¬ 
selves. Incense was then offered to the pictures and to the 
people; and that ceremony ended, the archbishop read aloud 
a declaration, purporting that the deceased died in the true 
faith j that he had repented of his errors, and that his sins 
were absolved. Then turning to us, as the paper was placed 
in the coffin, he said again in Latin : “ This is what all you 
foreigners call the passport; and you relate, in books oi 
travels, that we believe no soul can go to heaven without it, 

19 


218 


RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 


Now I wish you to understand what it really is ; and to ex¬ 
plain to your countrymen upon my authority, that it is nothing 
more than a declaration, or certificate, concerning the death 
of the deceased” Then laughing, he added, “ I suppose you 
commit all this to paper ; and one day I shall see an engrav¬ 
ing of this ceremony, with an old archbishop giving a pass¬ 
port to St. Peter.” 

The lid of the coffin being now removed, the body of the 
prince was exposed to view 5 and all the relatives, servants, 
slaves, and other attendants, began their loud lamentations, as 
'is the custom among the Russians; and each person, walking 
round the corpse, made prostration before it, and kissed the 
lips of the deceased. The venerable figure of an old slave 
presented a most affecting spectacle. He threw himself flat 
on the pavement, with a degree of violence which might have 
cost him his life, and quite stunned by the blow, remained a 
few seconds insensible; afterwards, his loud sobs were heard; 
and we saw him tearing off and scattering his white hairs. 
He had, according to the custom of the country, received his 
liberty upon the death of the prince; but choosing rather to 
consign himself for the remainder of his days to a convent, he 
retired for ever from the world, saying: “ Since his dear old 
master was dead, there was no one living who cared for him.” 

A plate was handed about, containing boiled rice and raisins; 
a ceremony I am unable to explain. The face of the deceased 
was covered by linen, and the archbishop poured consecrated 
oil, and threw a white powder, probably lime, several times 
upon it, pronouncing some words in the Russian language; 
which, supposing us not to understand, he repeated aloud in 
Latin: 11 Dust thou art; and unto dust thou art returned /” 
The lid of the coffin was then replaced; and, after a requiem, 
“sweet as from blest voices,” a procession began from the 
church to a convent in the vicinity of the city, where the body 
was to be interred. There was nothing solemn in this part 
of the ceremony. It began by the slaves of the deceased on 
foot, all of whom were in mourning. Next went the priests, 1 
bearing tapers; then came the body on a common droski; the 
whip of the driver being bound with crape; and afterwards a 
line of carriages, of the miserable description before observed. 
But, instead of that slow movement usually characteristic of 
funeral processions, the priests and the people ran as fast as 
they could; and the body was jolted along in an uncouth man¬ 
ner. Far behind the last rumbling vehicle were seen persons 
following, out of breath, unable to keep up with their compa¬ 
nions. 




RUSSIAN GREEK CHURCH. 


219 


Sect of Raskobiiki, or Ibraniki. —This is the only sect that 
has separated from the established church in Russia. They 
are supposed to amount to about one million. The date of 
their separation was about the year 1666. They pretend to 
be ardent lovers of the Holy Scriptures, and distinguished 
for their piety. Its members assume the name of Ibraniki , 
that is, the multitude of the elect; or, according to others, 
Straoivertsi , that is, believers in the ancient faith: but the 
name given them by their adversaries, and that by which 
they are generally known, is Raskolniki , that is, schismatics, 
or the seditious faction. In defence of their separation, they 
allege the corruptions, in both doctrine and discipline, that 
have been introduced into the Russian church. They profess 
a rigorous zeal for the letter of the holy scripture, which they 
do not understand; and the transposition of a single word in 
a new edition of the Russian Bible, though this transposition 
was intended to correct an uncouth phrase in the translation 
commonly received, threw them into the greatest tumult. 
They will not allow a priest to administer baptism after ha¬ 
ving tasted spirituous liquors; and in this, perhaps, they act 
rightly, since it is said, “ that the Russian priests seldom touch 
the flask without drinking deep.” They hold, that there is 
no subordination of rank, no superior or inferior among the 
faithful; that a Christian may kill himself for the love of 
Christ; that Hallelujah must be only twice pronounced, that 
it is a great sin to repeat it thrice; and that a priest must ne¬ 
ver give a blessing except with three fingers. They are re¬ 
gular, even to austerity, in their manners; but as they have 
always refused to admit Christians of other denominations into 
their religious assemblies, they have been suspected of com¬ 
mitting in them various abominations, but this ought not to be 
believed without the strongest demonstrative proof. They 
have suffered much persecution; and various means have 
been used to bring them back into the bosom of the church, 
but in vain; and arguments, promises, threatenings, dragoon¬ 
ing, the authority of synods and councils, seconded by racks 
and gibbets, in a word, all the methods that artifice or barba¬ 
rity could suggest, have been practised; but these, instead of 
lessening, have increased their numbers, and, instead of clo¬ 
sing, have widened the breach. Some wealthy merchants and 
great lords are attached to this sect; and it is widely diffused 
among the peasants. It ought to be added, that the members 
of this sect consider the worship of images as gross idolatry; 
and, perhaps, this practice, real or supposed, in the Russian 
church, was one reason of their separating from it. 


220 


OTHER BRANCHES OF 


SEC. III.-OTHER BRANCHES OF THE GREEK CHURCH. 

♦ 

Besides the Greek Church Proper, of which the Russian 
Church may be considered an independent branch, there are 
several other branches of the same church, which are scattered 
over a great extent of country in the east, embracing an un¬ 
known, but large number of members. Those which we 
shall briefly notice are, the Georgian and Mingrelian Greek 
Churches , the Nestorians , Christians of St. Thomas , Jacobites , 
Copts , Abyssinians and Armenians. It may be remarked? 
however, of these several communions, that they are in a mi¬ 
serable state of ignorance, superstition, and wretchedness. 
The Holy Scriptures are but little known among them ; but 
the British and Foreign Bible Society has, within a few 
years, directed considerable attention to their necessities ; and 
has circulated nearly two hundred thousand copies of the 
Bible, for their use, in their several languages. 

Sec. 1 .—Georgian and Mingrelian Churches. 

Georgia and Mingrelia are two countries of Asia. The 
former of which lies between the Black and Caspian seas; 

Situation of and the latter between Circassia on the north, 
Georgia and and Guriel on the south. The former was the an- 
Mingrelia. ceint Iberia, the latter in part the ancient Colchis. 
The inhabitants of both these countries are sunk in poverty, 
ignorance, and semi-barbarism. Yet an interest attaches to them 
on account of their religion, which was once more flourishing 
than at present. They are a branch of the Greek Church. 
These two people are said to profess the same faith, with this 
difference, however, that the Mingrelians residing in the 
mountains and woods are more vicious and depraved in morals 
than the Georgians. 

Each of these nations has a pontiff at their head, whom 
they call Catholicos, or the Catholic—who is obliged to pay 

Their Pon- a certa i n tribute to the Patriarch of Constanti- 
tiffs. nople—but is, in every other respect, inde¬ 

pendent of any foreign jurisdiction. They have 
bishops and priests, who are not only ignorant, but exceedingly 
dissolute and corrupt. Some of their bishops are able 
neither to read or write, and in order to discharge their duty 
learn to say mass by heart; which, however, they are never 
inclined to do without being very well paid for their trouble, 

The priests are allowed not only to marry, according to the 
custom of the Greek Church, before ordination, but many 


THE GREEK CHURCH. 


221 


enter into second marriages at the expense only 
of a dispensation from the bishop, which Their Pnests - 
amounts to about a pistole. In short, they may marry a third 
or fourth time upon paying double fees for every new indul¬ 
gence. The patriarch, likewise, never ordains a bishop 
without being first paid the sum of five hundred crowns. 

When any person is very much indisposed amongst them, 
he sends for a priest, who attends him rather in the capacity 
of a physician, than as a father-confessor; for he never 
mentions one word of confession to his patient. Turning over 
the leaves of a particular book, which he carries about him 
for that purpose, with an extraordinary display of fictitious 
gravity and circumspection, he pretends to find therein the 
real cause of the distemper, which he usually ascribes to the high 
displeasure of some of their images ; for it is a received notion 
amongst them, that their images are capable of gratifying their 
resentments on those who have offended them. The cause 
of the disorder being thus decidedly ascertained, the priestly 
physician enjoins his patient to make atonement for his sins by 
some acceptable oblation to the incensed image; that is to say, 
some valuable present in money or effects, which he always 
takes care to apply to his own private advantage. 

In regard to their baptismal ceremonies, as soon as an 
infant is born, the papas, or priest, makes the sign of the cross 
on his forehead, and eight days afterwards _ . , 

anoints him with the Myrone, that is, their con- cer emomes. 
secrated oil; but he never baptizes him till two 
years after; and the following form is observed. The child is 
brought to the church, and presented to the papas, who imme¬ 
diately asks his name, and lights a little wax taper; after 
which he reads a "long lesson, and repeats several prayers 
suitable to the occasion. After that, the godfather undresses 
the infant, and plunges him naked into a kind of font or 
bathing vessel, full of lukewarm water, mixed with walnut-oil 
and washes his body all over, the papas taking no share in this 
part of the ceremony, nor pronouncing a single syllable 
during the whale of the time. After this general ablution, 
however, he advances towards the water-vessel, and gives the 
Myrone to the godfather, to anoint the infant. The god¬ 
father accordingly anoints his forehead, nose, eyes, ears, breast, 
navel, knees, soles of the feet, heels, hams, loins, shoulders, 
and the crown of his head. After this ceremony is over, he 
plunges him again into the font, or water-vessel, and offers 
him a bit of blessed bread to eat, and a small portion of sacred 
wine to drink. If the child swallows them, it is looked upon 
19 * 


222 


OTHER BRANCHES OF 


as a happy omen. In conclusion, the godfather returns the 
infant to its mother, saying three times, “ You delivered him 
into my hands a Jew , and I return him to you a Christian .” 

We shall now proceed to the nuptial ceremonies of the 
Georgians, which are, in fact, nothing more than a mere con- 
. tract, by way of bargain and sale. The parents 
remonies! C<2 bring their daughters to market, and agree with 
the purchasers for a particular sum, which ij 
greater or smaller, according to the value of the living com¬ 
modities. A female who has never been married 'commands 
a much higher price than a widow, and a virgin in her bloom 
more than an antiquated maid. As soon as the purchase- 
money is raised and ready, the father of the bridegroom gives 
an entertainment, at which the son attends with his cash in 
hand, and deposits it on the table before he offers to sit down: 
at the same time, the relations of the bride provide an equiva¬ 
lent, which is generally as near the value of his money as 
possible, consisting of all manner of necessary household 
goods, cattle, clothes, slaves, &c. This custom appears to be 
very ancient, and after the entertainment is over, the bride re¬ 
pairs to the bridegroom’s house, attended by her relations, 
friends, and acquaintance. The procession is enlivened by a 
concert of instrumental music; the contractors going before, 
to inform the family, that the newly-married couple will arrive 
soon at home. These messengers, on their first arrival, are 
presented with bread, wine, and meat; without offering to 
enter the house, however, they take the flagon of wine, and 
pour it lavishly round about it. This libation is consecrated 
by their hearty wishes for the health, prosperity, and peace of 
the newly-married couple. After this, they return to the bride, 
and conduct her home to her husband’s apartment, in which 
the other relations and friends are all assembled. In the 
middle of the room a carpet is spread upon the floor; and a 
pitcher of wine, with a kettle full of dough, called Gom, which 
they make their bread with, are set upon it. Soon after her 
entrance, the bride kicks down the pitcher, and scatters the 
^paste with both her hands all over the room. We are at a 
loss to determine the mystical design of this practice, unless 
it be emblematical of the plenty and fruitfulness of the mar¬ 
riage-state. The ceremony is attended with the usual pastimes 
and demonstrations of joy, which are customary on such pub¬ 
lic occasions. 

The essential part of the nuptial mystery, however, is not 
solemnized here, but in a private apartment, for fear the sor¬ 
cerers should cast a spell upon the newly married couple. 


THE GREEK CIIURCII. 


223 


The bridegroom and his bride stand with their godfather be¬ 
fore a priest, who reads over the marriage words by the light 
of a wax taper; and tw r o garlands of flowers, either natural or 
artificial, are set close to each other on an adjoining table, 
with tufts of various colours ; a tavaiole, that is, a veil; a glass 
of wine, a piece of bread, and a needle and thread. The god¬ 
father now throws a veil over the bridegroom’s head, and, 
whilst the priest is reading the ceremony, sews the garments 
of the bride and bridegroom together. This godfather like¬ 
wise puts crowns upon their heads, and changes them three 
or four times successively, according to the tenor of the prayers 
repeated on the occasion. After this, he takes the glass and 
the pieces of bread into his hands, and gives the bridegroom 
one bit, and the bride another ; this he repeats three times, and 
then eats the seventh himself He now gives them the glass 
three, times a-piece, and then drinks the remainder, which 
concludes the ceremony. 

The veil made use of on this occasion, is the emblem or 
image of the nuptial bed, and the thread, with which the bride¬ 
groom and bride are sewed together, the symbol of the con¬ 
jugal knot; but as the Georgians and Mingrelians are addict¬ 
ed to divorce and to discard their wives, and as they are fre¬ 
quently guilty of fornication and polygamy, the fragility of the 
thread is looked upon as a lively representation of the pre¬ 
carious and uncertain duration of this happy union. The 
bread and wine denote their community, or having things in 
common together. The godfather eats and drinks the re¬ 
mains, to intimate that he has contracted a kind of relation¬ 
ship with them, and that he ought to be an impartial judge, or 
to be the arbitrator, in any controversies that may afterwards 
arise between them. 

The mourning of the Mingrelians, according to the accounts 
of several travellers, is like that of persons in the very depth 
of despair, and consists not only in weeping, or p ullPra i Ce 
rather howling, in honour of their dead, but also remo u n ^ 
in shaving their beards and eyebrows. More¬ 
over, when a wife loses her husband, or some other near rela¬ 
tion, she rends her clothes, strips herself naked to the waist, 
tears her hair, scarifies her body, and scratches her face all over. 
The men likewise behave nearly in the same manner, and are 
more or less violent, as necessity, inclination, or the circum¬ 
stances of their mourning prompt them. This continues forty 
days, with a gradual diminution of their sorrow, as that term 
draws near to its expiration. 

On the ten first days, the relations and intimate friends and 


224 


OTHER BRANCHES OF 


acquaintance meet constantly to weep over the deceased. 
Their cries and howlings, their transports of sorrow, and their 
silence and serenity of mind, alternately succeed each other. 
On the last day they inter the corpse, on which occasion the 
catholicos puts upon the breasts of those who die in the faith, 
a letter cr petition, in which he humbly beseeches St. Peter to 
open the gate of heaven for them, and to admit of their en¬ 
trance. This ceremony is sometimes performed even before 
they put them in their shrouds. On the fortieth day of their 
mourning, the Georgians have a funeral entertainment for the 
relations, friends, and acquaintance of the deceased, at which 
the men sit at one table, and the women at another. The 
bishop now reads a mass for the dead, and takes, for his fee or 
gratuity, every thing that was allotted to the service of the de¬ 
ceased. 


Sec. 2 .—Nestorian Churches. 

There are several sects of Christians in the Levant, who 
are known and distinguished by the name of Chaldeans or 

Rise Syrians: but the most considerable part of them 

are those who pass under the denomination of 
Nestorians, and in reality revere Nestorius, who was Patri¬ 
arch of Constantinople in the beginning of the fifth century, 
by invoking him in their prayers. 

The occasion of the fatal controversy in which Nestorius 
involved the church, was furnished by Anastasius, who was 
honoured with his friendship. 

This presbyter, in a public discourse, delivered in 424, de¬ 
claimed warmly against the title of Mother of God, which was 
then frequently attributed to the Virgin Mary in the contro¬ 
versy with the Arians, giving it as his opinion, that the Holy 
Virgin was rather to be called Mother of Christ, since the 
Deity can neither be born nor die, and, of consequence, the 
son of man alone could derive his birth from an earthly parent. 
Nestorius applauded these sentiments, and explained and de? 
fended them in several discourses. 

In opposition to him, Eutyches, an abbot at Constantinople, 
declared that these natures were so united in Christ, as to 
form but one nature, that of the Incarnate word. It was an 
age when men were fast losing sight of the Gospel, and con¬ 
tending about modes and forms; and these opposite opinions 
threw the whole eastern world into bitter contention, and gave 
rise to that great division, which continues to this day among 
the miserable remnant of the Eastern churches. The follow- 



THE GREEK CHURCH. 


225 


ers of the former, are called Ncstorians; the latter, Monophy- 
sites. 

The Nestorians early became the chief propagators of the 
Gospel in the East. They enjoyed the patronage of the Per¬ 
sian monarch Pherazes, by whom their opponents were ex¬ 
pelled from his kingdom, and their patriarch was established 
at Seleucia. They established a school at Nisibis under Bar- 
sumas, a disciple of Nestorius, from whence proceeded, in the 
fifth and sixth centuries, a band of missionaries, who spread 
abroad their tenets, through Egypt, Syria, Arabia, India, Tar¬ 
tary and China. In the twelfth century, they won over to their 
faith the prince of Tartary, who was baptized John ; and be¬ 
cause he exercised the office of presbyter, was, with his suc¬ 
cessors, called Prester John. They made converts also of the 
Christians on the coast of Malabar, who, it is supposed, re¬ 
ceived the Christian faith from the Syrian Mar Thomas, in 
the fourth or fifth century. 

They formed, at one time, an immense body; but dwindled 
away before the Saracen power, and the exasperated heathen 
priests and jealous Chinese emperors. They acknowledged 
but one patriarch until 1551, who resided first at Bagdad, and 
afterwards at Mousul. But at this period, the Papists suc¬ 
ceeded in dividing them, and a new patriarch was consecra¬ 
ted by Pope Julius III. and established over the adherents to 
the pope, in the city of Ormus. The great patriarch at Mousul, 
called Elias, has continued, however, to be acknowledged to 
this day, by the greater part of the Nestorians, who are scat¬ 
tered over Asia. 

Throughout this long period, they have maintained consi¬ 
derable purity of doctrine and worship, and kept free from the 
ridiculous ceremonies of the Greek and Latin churches. Of 
their present number, and religious character, we know but 
little. Probably they are very ignorant, debased, and cor¬ 
rupt.* 

We shall now proceed to such religious customs among 
the Nestorians, as may be more properly thought an essential 
part of this history. Before the sixth century, Dre?s of theIr 
the patriarch of the Nestorians was dignified clergy, 
and distinguished by the title of Catholic, which 
he has retained ever since. His clergy, as well as those of 
the Greeks in Constantinople, consist of married and monastic 
priests. The latter, in Syria and Mesopotamia, are dressed in 
black, with a capuche, or hood, which covers the crown of 


+ Marsh’s Ecc. History. 


226 


OTHER BRANCHES OF 


their head like a calot, and hangs down upon the shoulders 
like a veil. Over this they wear a turban, the cap and the linen 
cloth of which are of a deep blue. The patriarch and the 
bishops are not distinguished from the priests by any particu¬ 
lar dress, but by their pastoral .staff and a cross, which they 
carry in their hands, and hold out for the devotees to kiss. 
The' head of the former is made either like a crutch, or a 
croiser. The vestments of their married priests are all black 
likewise, or at least dark gray; but instead of wearing a ca- 
puche upon their heads, they have a round cap with a large 
button upon the top of it. 

Besides the regular monastic priests, there are several con¬ 
vents in Mesopotamia, the monks of which are not priests, but 
style themselves monks of the order of St. Anthony. The 
habit of these Nestorian monks is an open black cassock, 
which is girt round them with a leathern surcingle, and a 
gown over it, the sleeves of which are very large. They 
wear no capuche, but a purple turban instead of it. At mid¬ 
night, morning, and evening, they repeat the church service, 
but spend the remainder of the day in tilling their grounds. 

The churches belonging to the Nestorians are divided by 
balustrades, or rails; and one part of them is always allotted 
for the peculiar service of the women. The font 

Churches. j s ere cted on the south side. When they say 
their prayers, and pay their adoration to the Supreme Being, 
they always turn their faces towards the east. Before the en¬ 
trance into these churches, there is, generally, a large court, 
with a very small door. This court was originally the place 
appointed for the reception of penitents, and was made use of 
as a bar to the profane, in order to prevent them hearing and 
seeing the different proceedings and ceremonies of the Christ¬ 
ian assemblies. 

Independently of the fasts, which are generally observed by 
the Christians of the Greek Church, the Nestorians keep one 
in particular, which continues three days; it is 
ev e h! ° in " called the Fast of Nineveh, because they therein 
imitate the repenting Ninevites, who did penance 
for their sins for three days after the preaching of the prophet 
Jonas. This fast is the introduction to their Lent. 

The Christians of Syria and Mesopotamia have added to 
their calendar one festival in commemoration of the penitent 
thief, which is not observed by the Roman Catholic Church; 
it is called by them Lass-al-jemin, that is, the Thief on the 
right hand. This falls upon the octave of Easter. 

The bathing of the Syrian Christians in the river Jordan 


THE GREEK CHURCH. 


227 


must be reckoned amongst their religious customs, but the 
ceremony itself is very idle and ridiculous. 

These people, however, practise it as an act of B ,^^° 10us 
devotion, and Christians of all denominations, as ' b 
Greeks, Nestorians, Copts, &c. wash themselves naked in the 
river, with great solemnity, in commemoration of Jesus Christ 
and his baptism. In this instance, they concern themselves 
as little in regard to the difference of the sexes, as of the sects; 
for men and women jump promiscuously into the river, and 
plunge down to the bottom. Some of the most zealous devotees 
dip their handkerchiefs in the sacred stream; others carry a 
quantity of the water away with them in bottles ; and the very 
dirt, sand, and grass that grows upon the banks, are all looked 
upon as sacred relics. 


Nuptial 

ceremonies. 


Funeral 

obsequies. 


The nuptial ceremonies of the Syrians are very singular 
and remarkable. The bridegroom is conducted to the house 
of the bride on horseback, between two drawn 
swords, which are carried by two men, one before 
and the other behind him. The relations, friends, 
and acquaintance of the bride receive him with their flambeaux 
lighted, and music preceding them, accompanied with songs, 
acclamations, and other testimonies of general joy. On the 
wedding-night the bridegroom gives his spouse an uncourteous 
kick, and commands her to pull off his shoes, as a token of 
her submission and obedience, 

When a Christian dies at Bagdad, the neighbours assemble, 
in order to perform his funeral obsequies. At their return 
from the place of interment, a handsome colla¬ 
tion is always prepared for their refreshment at 
the house of the deceased, where every one is 
welcome without distinction, inasmuch, that sometimes a hun¬ 
dred and fifty, or more, appear at these funeral entertainments. 
The next day, the company meet in order to pray together 
over the grave of the deceased, which is likewise repeated on 
the third day; when there is another public entertainment pro¬ 
vided for them, and in general the same welcome is given to 
all as before. These ceremonies are repeated on the seventh 
day, the fifteenth, the thirtieth, and the fortieth, after the de¬ 
cease. 

At Damas, the Christian women sing and weep over their 
dead. Thevenot saw a company of these female mourners, 
accompanied by two men with lighted candles in their hands, 
howling over the dead, and beating their breasts to express 
their sorrow. Every now and then they made a halt; then 
fell into a ring, and snapping their fingers, as if they were play* 


228 


OTHER BRANCHES OF 


ing with castanets, danced and sung to the sound, whilst others 
kept time in hideous howlings. The ceremony concluded 
with mutual testimonies of respect ; after which they departed, 
dancing and snapping their lingers asi before. Nearly the 
same ceremonies are observed at Rama on similar occasions. 
Father Le Brun says, “ that they weep for about half an hour 
over the g'rave of their deceased friends; then rise and fall into 
a ring, as if they were going to dance to the brawls .”—Two of 
them after this quit the ring, and planting themselves in the 
middle, there make a thousand grimaces, howling and clapping 
their hands. After this frightful noise, they sit down to drown 
their sorrow in tears. All the female mourners that Le Brun 
saw, relieved each other. Those who had finished went home, 
and others supplied their place. When these women stood up, 
in order to form themselves into a ring, they covered their 
heads with a black veil. 

Sec. 3.— Christians of St. Thomas. 

With regard to the origin of the Christians of St. Thomas, 
who inhabit the coast of Malabar and Travancore, there exists 
. much difference of opinion. The Portuguese, 

li S in - who first opened the navigation of India, in the 

fifteenth century, and found them seated there for ages, assert 
that St. Thomas, the apostle, preached the gospel in India; 
and that these are the descendants of his proselytes. 

The Christians of St. Thomas declare themselves descend¬ 
ants of one Mar Thomas or Thomas Cana, an Armenian 
merchant, who settled at Con gran or. Mar 

Opinion of Thomas married two wives, and had issue by 
tli6 Christians ■» mi i ii p v • 

of St Thomas eac h- Ihe children by the former were heirs 

to all his effects and lands, which were situate in 
the southern part of the kingdom of Congranor; and those 
of the latter, who was a negro-slave converted to the Christian 
faith, inherited the settlement of which their father died pos¬ 
sessed in the North. In process of time, his descendants be¬ 
came very numerous, and constituted two considerable branches, 
which were never united nor allied to each other. The issue 
of his first wife, from whom the nobility are descended, look 
down with disdain on the Christians of the other branch, and 
carry their aversion to so high a pitch, as to separate them¬ 
selves from their communion, and to contemn the ministry of 
their priests. Mar Thomas , whom these Christians look 
upon as their common parent, flourished, according to the ge¬ 
neral notion, in the tenth century; but M. la Croza thinks 


TIIE GREEK CIIURCII. 


220 


that he lived in the sixth. These Christians enjoyed so many 
valuable privileges under the sovereigns of the country, and 
grew so powerful, that they at length elected kings out of their 
own nation and religion. They continued in this state of in* 
dependence till the death of one of their sovereigns, who leav¬ 
ing no heir to the throne, they adopted a young idolatrous 
Prince who was his neighbour, and appointed him to be his 
successor. 

The Rev. Dr. Buchanan, vice-provost of the college of 
Fort-William, who visited these Christians in 1806, and 
counts fifty-five churches in Malay ala* denies 
that they are Nestorians, and observes that Dr. Bu- 
their doctrines “ are contained in a very few arti- ^ aaarl s ao " 
cles, and are not at variance in essentials with 
the doctrines of the church of England. They are usually 
denominated Jacob it a, f but they differ in ceremonial from 
the church of that name in Syria, and indeed from any exist¬ 
ing- chnrch in the world. Their proper designation, and that 
which is sanctioned by their own use, is Syrian Christians 
or The Syrian Church of Malay ala.” Yet the Doctor re¬ 
marks, that they acknowledge “ the Patriarch of Antioch,” 
and that they are connected with certain churches in Mesopo¬ 
tamia and Syria, 215 in number, and labouring under circum¬ 
stances of discouragement and distress: but lie does not say 
whether it is to the Greek or the Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch 


that they are subject.J 

In respect to their religious ceremonies they observe at 
Easter a kind of public collation, which bears some affinity 
with the Agapce of the primitive Christians. This . 

feast or entertainment consists generally of no- custom |. 
thing but a few herbs, fruits, and rice; and is 
made in the fore-court before the church-porch. The priests 
at those times have a double, and the bishop a triple portion 
of what is provided. To these Agapa, we must add another 
ceremony, called by the Christians of St. Thomas, their Pas¬ 
ture, which is said to be an emblem, or symbol, of brotherly 
love. During the time they are in the church, they take hold 


* Malay ala comprehends the mountains and the whole region with- 
in them, from Cape Cormorin to Cape Illi. AVherea,s the province of 
Malabar commonly so called, contains only the northern districts, not in- 
clud ing the country of Travancore. 

t Their Liturgy, Dr. B. tells us, is derived from that of the early 
church of Antioch, called “ IAturgia Jacobi Apostoli.” —And, according 
to Mr. Gibbon, “ the Jacobites themselves had rather deduce their name 
and pedigree from St. James the Apostle. 
t All Religions. 

20 




230 


OTHER BRANCHES OF 


of the hands of one of their most ancient Cacanares, or 
priests, and in that posture receive his benediction. 

These Christians have holy water placed at their church- 
doors, with which they make the -sign of the cross, repeating 
at the same time a prayer in commemoration of Nestorius. It 
is merely a little common water, mixed with a small quantity 
of mould, taken out of the road through which St. Thomas 
had travelled. In case they have no such mould, they throw 
a few grains of frankincense into it. We have before ob¬ 
served, that they have not only crosses, but pictures or repre¬ 
sentations of them, hung up in their churches; and the priests 
likewise carry a crucifix in procession, obliging the devotees 
who assist to salute it. This act of devotion has been em¬ 
braced even by the Pagans. There are also crosses erected 
not only in their streets and high roads, but in the most soli¬ 
tary places. They are erected on a pedestal, in which there 
is a hole or cavity, large enough to contain a burning lamp; 
and the Indians frequently contribute towards the oil that is 
spent to support these lamps. 

The use of bells is prohibited amongst those Chaldeans 
who live under the authority and jurisdiction of the Indians; 
because the sound of those instruments, in their opinion, is of¬ 
fensive and incommodious to their idols : the ancient pagans 
were no strangers to this idle notion. 

It is a common practice among the Indian Christians, out 
of devotion, to lie all night in their churches ; and the same 
custom was frequently observed by the ancient idolaters. The 
posture of these Indians, when they say their prayers, is pros¬ 
tration with their faces to the ground. 

A description of their dances maybe properly enough intro¬ 
duced in this place. The men dance by themselves, and the 
maidens and married women also by themselves, with all 
imaginable modesty and decorum. Before they begin, they 
not only make the sign of the cross, but sing the Lord’s Prayer, 
with a hymn in commemoration of St. Thomas. The In¬ 
dians, likewise, amongst whom these Christians live, make 
dancing a part of their divine worship; and it is well known 
that it was a principal ornament, and an essential act of devo¬ 
tion, at the festivals of the ancient pagans. With regard to 
their songs, the subject of them is always either the virtues of 
their saints, or the heroic actions of their ancestors. 


THE GREEK CHURCH. 


231 


Sec. 4 .—Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the Jacobites. 


N General ac¬ 
count. 


Were we to include under the denomination of Jacobites , 
all the Monophysites of the Levant, that is, all those who 
are charged with the heresy of acknowledging 
but one nature in Jesus Christ, it must be ac¬ 
knowledged that their sect would be very exten¬ 
sive ; for then we must reckon the Armenians , Cophti, and 
the Abyssinians , amongst the number. Bat there are very few 
who can strictly and justly be termed Jacobites , and they, for 
the most part, reside in Syria and Mesopotamia. There are 
not above 40 or-45,000 families of their persuasion ; and even 
they themselves are divided in point of principle; some of 
them being reconciled to the Church of Rome, and others con¬ 
tinuing in a state of separation. The latter have two patri¬ 
archs, who generally act in direct opposition to each other: 
one of them resides at Caremit, and the other at Derzapha- 
ram ; independently of whom, there is another patriarch at¬ 
tached to the Church of Rome, who resides at Aleppo, and is 
dependant on, and absolutely under the jurisdiction of the 
court of Rome. 

As to the articles of their belief, the Monophysites , in gene¬ 
ral, (whether Armenians, Cophti, or Abyssinians,) maintain 
the doctrine of Dioscorus, with respect to the D oc t r mfr 
unity of the nature and person of Jesus Christ, 
and to that degree of exactness, that, in order the more clearly 
to express their belief, they make the sign of the cross, accord¬ 
ing to Brerewood, with one finger only , whereas the other 
Easterns make use of two; for this reason, they are looked 
upon and treated as heretics, though in reality there is no other 
difference but in point of terms between them and the divines 
of the Latin Church. This is readily acknowledged by the 
most learned men amongst them at this very day; and is evi¬ 
dent from the conferences which Father Christopher Roderic, 
the pope’s legate in Egypt, had with the Cophti, on the sub¬ 
ject of reconciliation between the two churches. They in¬ 
genuously confessed, that the only reason of their making use 
of such terms, was purely to testify their abhorrence and de¬ 
testation of the Nestorians; for that, in reality, they were of 
the same opinion with the Latin Church, and freely owned 
the two natures of Jesus Christ. They further insisted that 
the mystery of the Incarnation was more clearly explained by 
their asserting the unity of Christ!s nature ; because there is 


232 


OTHER BRANCHES OF 


but one Jesus Christ, who is both God and mam On the 
contrary, the Latins speak of these two natures as if they were 
severed from one another, and did not constitute one real 
whole. 

It is in this sense, likewise, that Dioscorus, who softened 
some of the harsh terms which were made use of by Euty- 
ches, declared his opinion that Jesus Christ was a com¬ 
pound of two natures ; although he was not in himself two 
distinct natures, “ which,” says Father Simon, “appears an 
orthodox notionfor they will not acknowledge that there 
were two distinct natures in Jesus Christ, for fear of estab¬ 
lishing two Christs. The whole of this mighty disagree¬ 
ment arises, however, from the different construction which 
each party puts on those two terms, nature, and 'person. To 
which may be added, the ambition of not swerving in the least 
from a position once laid down, and which was the principal 
reason why Eutyches maintained his opinion ivith so much 
obstinacy: from which it appears, that the terms he uses ought 
not to be understood in their most strict and rigorous sense; 
but be construed and restrained to that idea, which he enter¬ 
tained of admitting but one Christ, and consequently but one 
nature, after the union of the two natures, the divine and hu¬ 
man, in such a manner as is incomprehensible to our weak 
understandings. 

In regard to all other points, relating either to the faith or 
ceremonies of the Jacobites, the accounts which Brerewood 

Ceremonies ^ as o^ ven us °f them are not always strictly 
just. For instance, they neither deny a state of 
purgatory , nor reject prayers for the dead, as he perempto¬ 
rily asserts upon the authority of Thomas the Jesuit; but their 
notions, in those particulars, are the same as those of the 
Greeks, and other oriental nations. Neither is it true that 
they consecrate the sacrament with unleavened bread ; the Ar¬ 
menians, and, according to Alvares, the Ethiopians, only ex¬ 
cepted ; for the true Jacobites, of whom we are speaking, make 
use of leavened bread. Gregory XIII. who purposed to found 
a college at Rome for the Jacobites, there being one antece¬ 
dently erected for the encouragement of the Maronites, would 
no doubt have indulged them, as well as the Greeks, with the 
administration of the sacrament with leavened bread ; but in 
regard to confession , the assertion that it is not practised 
amongst them is likewise a gross mistake; for as it is not 
looked upon by them as of divine institution, it is consequently 
very much neglected. Brerewood says that they confess their 
sins to God alone, and not to a priest, except upon some ex- 






TIIE GREEK CHURCH. 


233 


traordinary occasion. His assertion, however, about circum¬ 
cision, must be false, unless be means to refer to a few amongst 
the Cophti and the Abyssinians; and even they look on it 
rather as an ancient custom than a religious ceremony. 

A great distinction ought however to be made between the 
Jacobites, when the Cophti, Abyssinians, and Armenians, are 
included under that denomination, and those who are strictly 
and properly so called; for though they are all followers of 
that St. James, from whom they derive their title; yet they do 
not all observe the same ceremonies. James was the disciple 
of Severus, Patriarch of Antioch, in the sixth century. He is 
revered as a saint by the Jacobites, as well as Dioscorus, who 
was his contemporary. Ahrahamus Ecchellensis insists that 
the Jacobites, as well as the Latins, acknowledge that the Holy 
Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son ; but Father Si¬ 
mon says that “ he is very much mistaken in this particular, as 
well as in several others relating to the customs and tenets of 
the Eastern Christians.” 

Before baptism the Jacobites imprint the sign of the cross, 
not only on the arm, but on the face of the infant to be bapti¬ 
zed. It is likewise a received notion amongst them, that the 
souls of the righteous reside on earth till the day of judgment, 
waiting for the second coming of Jesus Christ; also, that 
the angels consist of two substances, fire and light. 

The Jacobites, who are scattered throughout Syria and the 
parts adjacent, are computed to amount to more than fifty 
thousand families. There is a quotation in Brerewood, in 
which the number was then said to be advanced to a hundred 
and sixty thousand. 


Sec. 5.—Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the Copts. 


The Copts , according to Scaliger and Father Simon, derive 
their name from Coptos, once a celebrated town of Egypt, and 
the metropolis of Thebaid; but Volney and G j ac 
others are of opinion, that the name Copts is count 
only an abbreviation of the Greek word Ai- 
gouptios, an Egyptian. The Copts have a patriarch, whose 
jurisdiction extends over both Egypts, Nubia, and Abyssinia, 
who resides at Cairo, but who takes his title from Alexan¬ 
dria. He has under him eleven or twelve bishops, besides 
the abuna, or bishop of the Abyssinians, whom he appoints 
and consecrates. The rest of the clergy, whether secular or 
regular, are composed of the orders of St. Anthony, St. Paul, 
20 * 


234 


OTHER BRANCHES OF 


Rites 


and 
Ceremonies. 


and St. Macarins, who have each their monasteries. Their 
arch-priests are next in degree to bishops, and their deacons 
are said to be numerous; and they often confer the order of 
deacon even on children. Next to the patriarch is the bishop 
or titular patriarch of Jerusalem, who also resides at Cairo, 
because there are only few Copts at Jerusalem; he is, in re¬ 
ality, little more than bishop of Cairo, except that he goes to 
Jerusalem every Easter, and visits some other places in Pa¬ 
lestine, within his own jurisdiction. To him belongs the go¬ 
vernment of the Coptic church, during the vacancy of the 
patriarchal see. The ecclesiastics are said to be in general 
of the lowest rank of the people ; and hence that great degree 
of ignorance which prevails among them. 

They have seven sacraments; baptism, the eucharist, con¬ 
firmation, ordination, faith, fasting, and prayer. They admit 
only three cecumenical councils ; those of Nice, 
Constantinople, and Ephesus. They observe 
four Lents, as do the Greeks and most Eastern 
Christians; but it is said, by Brerevvood and Ross, that they 
do not keep the Lord’s day. There are three Coptic liturgies; 
one attributed to St. Basil, another to St. Gregory, and the 
third to St. Cyril. These are translated into Arabic for the 
use of the clergy and the people. The Copts are fond of rites 
and ceremonies. During the time of service, they are always 
in motion. In particular, the officiating priest is in continual 
motion, incensing the saints, pictures, books, &c. every mo¬ 
ment. They have many monasteries, in which the monks 
bury themselves from society in remote solitudes. Their nun¬ 
neries are properly hospitals; and few enter them, except wi¬ 
dows reduced to beggary. During the first three ages of the 
church, no country exhibited more sincere or greater Christ¬ 
ian piety than Egypt, and the north of Africa in general. At 
present, however, little more than the mere shadow of Christi¬ 
anity can be seen in Egypt; and, in point of numbers, not 
more than fifty thousand Christians in all can be found in this 
country. There are not more than three Christian churches 
at Cairo. 

In respect to this people, we shall only add a brief account 
of their nuptial ceremonies, which, however, do not essentially 

Nu tial Cc c ^ er fr° m tl 1086 practised by the Greeks. Af- 
remonies. ter m idnight service, or, as the Romans would 
express it, after matins, the bridegroom in the 
first place, and then the bride, were conducted from their own 
apartments to church, accompanied by a long train of attend¬ 
ants with wax-tapers, and other lights. During the proces- 






THE GREEK CHURCH. 


sion several hymns were sung in the Coptic language, and 
the performers beat time, or accompanied the vocal with in¬ 
strumental music, by striking little wooden hammers upon 
small ebony rulers. The bridegroom was conducted into the 
inner choir of the church, and the bride to the place appointed 
for the women. Then the priests and the people began seve¬ 
ral prayers, interspersed with hymns, within the choir. This 
' ceremony was very long. At the conclusion, the priest who 
solemnized the nuptials went up to the bridegroom, and read 
three or four prayers, making the sign of the cross both at the 
% beginning and at the conclusion of each prayer. After that, 
he made him sit down upon the ground, with his face towards 
the Heikel. The priest who stood behind him held a silver 
cross over his head, and in that posture continued praying. 

Whilst this ceremony was performing in the inner choir, 
the sacristan had placed a form or bench at the door of the 
outer choir, for the bride to sit on with one of her relations. 
The priest having finished in the inner choir what the Copts 
call the Prayer of the Conjugal Knot , the other priest, who 
solemnized the nuptials, dressed the bridegroom in an alb, tied 
it with a surcingle about his waist, and threw a white napkin 
over his head. The bridegroom thus equipped was conducted 
to his spouse. The priest then made him sit down by her 
side, and laid the napkin, which before covered the bride¬ 
groom’s head, over them both. After this, he anointed each 
of them on the forehead, and above the wrist. To conclude 
the ceremony, he read Over to them, after their hands were 
joined, an exhortation, which principally turned on the duties 
incumbent on all those who enter into the holy state of matri¬ 
mony. Then followed sundry prayers; and after them the 
mass, at which the bridegroom and the bride received the 
blessed sacrament, and then departed. 


Sec. G .—Doctrines and Customs of the Abyssinians or 

Ethiopians. 

Having treated of the religion of the Copts, and as there 

is little or no difference between them and the 

. c • • i u ii General ac- 

Abyssmians, m point of principle, we shall say count> 

but little on that topic. 

The country known to the ancients by the name of Ethiopia, 
is now called Abyssinia, and the natives thereof are distin¬ 
guished by the name of Abyssinians. They are subservient 
only to the power and authority of one bishop, who is the me¬ 
tropolitan, or archbishop of all Ethiopia, and is dignified and, 


236 


OTHER BRANCHES OF 


distinguished by the title of Abuna, that is to say, Our Father. 
This bishop is sent by the Patriarch of Alexandria to preside 
ever them, and his place of residence is at Cairo ; so that they 
resemble the Copts in all their ecclesiastical concerns, except 
in some few ceremonies which are peculiar to themselves. 
They have likewise a language of their own, which they call 
the Chaldaic, because they are of opinion that it was originally 
spoken in Chaldea, though very different from the vulgar 
Chaldaic. For this reason, it is likewise called the Ethiopic 
tongue, and they always make use of it in their liturgies, and 
other religious offices. Such as are versed in the Hebrew 
language may easily attain a competent knowledge of the 
Ethiopic, because there are many words which are the same 
in both languages : they have characters, however, peculiar to 
themselves; and in the Hebrew language the points which 
supply me place of vowels, are never joined to the consonants; 
whilst on the other hand, in the Ethiopic language, there is 
no consonant, but what at the same time includes its own 
vowel. 

The Abyssinians are dependent on the Patriarch of Alex¬ 
andria, who makes choice of, constitutes, and appoints that 

Patriarch of P erson to be Metropolitan of Abyssinia whom he 
Abyssinia. thinks most able to fill the office, which ability 
is generally estimated according to the extent of 
the douceur which he is enabled to give. It is for this reason, 
that the Abyssinian priests mention in their prayers the Patri¬ 
arch of Alexandria before their own metropolitan; who, after 
his election, is always accountable to that patriarch for his 
conduct, and the due administration of his office. This metro¬ 
politan must not be a native of Abj^ssinia, neither has ^ he 
power to constitute or establish any other metropolitans; so 
that, although he has the honour to be called their patriarch , 
he has neither the authority nor the power belonging to that 
august character. He alone, however, issues out dispensa¬ 
tions, and is possessed of very considerable revenues, which 
pay very little, if any, duty or contribution to the government. 

There are both canons or prebendaries, and monks, in 
Abyssinia, and amongst the latter there are two sorts of 
hermits. The canons are allowed to marry, 
Clergy. 1 S ° an ^ t ^ ie * r canonships frequently descend to their 
children : this custom is the more remarkable, 
for there is no other religion, except that of the Jews, which 
can produce any instances of hereditary succession to any 
ecclesiastical dignities. The homos , or hegumene, is reputed 
the first dignitary, or principal person in the order of priest- 



THE GREEK CHURCH. 


237 


hood, after the archbishops and bishops, both by the Copts 
and the Abyssinians. Their monks never marry. Of these 
there are two kinds; one, that have a General , and form a 
regular body; the other, who live under one common rule, but 
their convents are independent of each other. These monks 
are men of credit and reputation, and are frequently intrusted 
with the most important affairs of state. None but the priests 
and deacons have any right to enter into the sanctuary where 
the altar stands; the emperor himself is denied that privilege, 
unless he has been before admitted into holy orders; for this 
reason their monarchs are frequently ordained, and take 
either deacon’s or priest’s orders on the day of their corona¬ 
tion. 

The Ethiopian princes insist, that they are descendants of 
Solomon by the Queen of Sheba; and this royal extraction, 
whether true or false, is supported by several Origin, 
historical testimonies, interspersed with a thou¬ 
sand extravagant fictions. But if this really be so, it readily 
accounts for that Judaism which is so universally blended with 
the Christianity of this empire, and which seems to be 
originally derived from this royal race of the Abyssinian 
monarchs. Indeed the Abyssinians are so confirmed, beyond 
all contradiction, in this belief, that their monarchs assume the 
title of Kings of Israel. The people are divided into tribes, 
as were the ancient Hebrews, and they preserve many Jewish 
names ; indeed, their very singers boast that they are descend¬ 
ants from the ancient Scribes. 

We shall next notice some of their rites and ceremonies; 
and first, in respect to baptism: the mother, being dressed with 
great neatness and decency, attends with her R . and 
infant in her arms at the church-door. There ceremon i es< 
the priest who officiates, pronounces several 
long prayers for a blessing on them both, beginning with 
those peculiarly appropriated to the mother. Afterwards, he 
conducts them into the church, and anoints the infant six 
several times with the oil consecrated for their exorcisms. 
These first unctions are accompanied with thirty-six others, 
administered with galilseum, each on a distinct part of the 
infant’s body. After this, he blesses the font, pouring con¬ 
secrated oil into it twice, and making, each time, three differ¬ 
ent signs of the cross with meiron, all which ceremonies are 
accompanied with several long prayers. As soon as the 
benediction of the font is over, he plunges the infant into it 
three times successively. At the first, he dips one third part of 
the infant’s body into the water, saying, I baptize thee in the 


238 


OTHER BRANCHES OF 


name of the Father; he then dips him lower, about two 
thirds, adding, I baptize thee in the name of the Son; at the 
third operation, he plunges him all over, saying, I baptize 
thee in the name of the Holy Ghost. The Sacraments of 
Confirmation, and of the Blessed Eucharist, are administered 
after this Baptism, which is solemnized before mass; and the 
Communion is administered to the infant towards the end. 

The confirmation of the Copts consists in several long 
prayers, and repeating the unctions on the infant, the same as 
n • after baptism. The priests among the Abyssini- g 

ans, perform their unction with chrism , in the 
form of a crosa, upon the forehead of the baptized infant, 
saying, May this be the unction of the grace of the Holy 
Ghost; Amen. When he anoints the infant’s nose and lips, 
he says, This is the pledge of the kingdom of heaven. At the 
application of the ointment to his ears, he uses this form, The 
sacred unction of our Lord Jesus Christ: in anointing the 
arms, knees, and legs, I anoint thee , says he, with this sacred 
unction , in the name of the Father , tyc. To conclude, the 
priest repeats a prayer over the infants that have been baptized, 
and afterwards confirmed, in the form of a benediction, puts 
crowns upon their heads, and then gives them the commu¬ 
nion. 

When the Abyssinians celebrate the eucha.rist, the sacra¬ 
mental bread is prepared in a convenient place, contiguous to 

Eucharist. t ^ ie c ^ lurc ^’ but no woman is permitted to touch 
the flour from which it is made. The bread is 
brought from the vestry to the altar by proper officers, who go 
in solemn procession before it, with crosses, censers, and little 
bells. During the celebration of mass, a curtain is drawn, to 
conceal what is done at the altar from the eyes of the congre¬ 


gation. 

They administer the communion in both kinds; but with 
these restrictions, according to Father le Brun;—that in the 
Ethiopian, as well as in all other Eastern churches, the cele¬ 
brant gives the blood , or wine, in the chalice to none but the 
priests ; he administers it to the deacons in a small spoon; 
and the laity receive only some particles of the body, dipped in 
the blood ; the king excepted, who receives the communion in 
both kinds. 


The Abyssinian churches are all situated directly from west 
to east, that the people when they pray may turn their faces 
Churches, eastward. The altar stands by itself, within the 
sanctuary, under a kind of dome, supported by 
four pilasters • and is called by the Ethiopians, their ark; 





THE GREEK CHURCH. 


239 


the form or figure of it being, according to their tradition, the 
same as that of the Jews: which they pretend is actually in 
existence, and is to be seen at this very time in the Church of 
Axuma. There are two curtains before the sanctuary, with 
little bells at the bottom of them, on which account nobody can 
go in nor come out, without making them ring. As the con¬ 
gregation always stand during the performance of divine ser¬ 
vice, they have no seats in their churches; they are allow r ed, 
however, to rest themselves upon supporters or crutches, a 
great number of which are provided for that purpose, and de¬ 
posited on the outside of the churches. The people always 
go into the church barefooted ; and for that reason the pave¬ 
ment is covered with tapestry. No person presumes to talk, 
blow his nose, nor so much as to turn his head aside, whilst 
at church. The men are separated from the women, and the 
latter are placed as far distant as possible from the sanctuary. 
They have lamps burning in their churches even in the day¬ 
time, and they frequently illumine a great number of wax- 
tapers. 

They are very strict and severe in the observance of their 
fasts. During their Lent, they eat but once a day, and that 
after sunset. On Wednesdays and Fridays they 
sit down to table at three o’clock; and, in order 
not to be in the least mistaken in point of time, they measure 
their shadows, which, when they are just seven feet in length 
is the critical minute. The Abyssinian priests are so precise, 
that they defer the celebration of the mass till the evening, 
upon a fast-day, for fear of transgressing the injunction of 
fasting, by receiving even the elements. They do not think 
themselves obliged, however, to fast, till they have children of 
a marriageable age; but as the heat of the climate soon brings 
the natives to maturity, there are but very few at twenty-five 
who are exempt from that penance. 

Among the Abyssinians, the particular person for whose 
spiritual comfort this benediction of the lamp is pronounced, 
is obliged, according to the direction of the Benediction 
ritual, if his strength will permit him, to draw 0 f the Lamb, 
near to the celebrant, who places him in a con¬ 
venient seat, with his Lee towards the east. The priests then 
holds the Book of the Gospels and a cross over his head, and 
lay their hands upon him. The senior priest then reads the 
prayers appointed for that particular occasion; after which 
they raise the sick person up. give him a blessing with the 
Book of the Gospels, and rehearse the Lord’s prayer, the 
Creed, &c. Then they raise the cross above his head, and at 


240 


other Branches of 


the same time pronounce the general absolution over him 
which is inserted in their liturgy. If time will permit, there 
are several other prayers added, and a formal procession is 
made all round the church, with the sacred lamp, and several 
lighted wax tapers, to beg of God that he would graciously 
vouchsafe to heal the person for whom their prayers are 
desired. If the patient happens to be so far indisposed as to 
be incapable of approaching the altar himself, some friend is 
substituted in his room. When the procession is over, the 
priests perform the usual unctions upon the sick person, and 
afterwards a single unction upon one another. 

A writer gives the following description of one of their 
weddings, at which he was personally present. The bride* 
. groom and the bride attended at the church- 

mon£ a CClL ~ door, where a kind of nuptial-bed, or couch, 
was erected for that purpose. The abuna, or 
patriarch seated them both upon it, and then went in pro¬ 
cession round them with the cross and censer. After that 
he laid his hands upon their heads, and said, As ye this day 
become one flesh, ye must be both of one heart and one will. After 
a short harangue, suitable to the foregoing words, he pro¬ 
ceeded to the celebration of the mass. The newly-married 
couple attended, and, after it was over, he pronounced the 
nuptial benediction. 

Gaia has furnished us with some other ceremonies observed 
by them in their nuptials, amongst which the following are the 
most remarkable. “ The celebrant, after he has cut a lock of 
hair from the heads of the bridegroom and the bride, and 
dipped them into wine mingled with honey, exchanges the 
locks, and places that which belonged to the former on the 
head of the latter, and so vice versa , in the very same place 
from whence they were taken, sprinkling them at the same 
time with holy water. After this ceremony is over, the 
newly-married couple, attended by their friends, go home, and 
never stir abroad for a month. When the bride goes out, she 
wears a black veil over her face, which she never turns up till 
after the expiration of six months, except she proves with 
child.” We have before taken particular notice of the nup¬ 
tial crowns, amongst the ceremonies of the Greeks; and 
among the Abyssinians, these crowns are put upon the heads 
of the newly-married couple, and they wear them for the first 
eight days; after which, the priest who put them on, takes 
them off again, with much formality, and pronounces several 
prayers. 

Each monastery has two churches, one for the men and the 


THE GREEK CHURCH. 


241 


)ther for the women. Their musical instruments are little 
drums, which they hang- about their necks, and beat with 
both hands. The gravest ecclesiastic amongst them looks 
upon this drum as an ornament, and always wears one. They 
have likewise pilgrim’s staffs, which they strike upon the 
ground, and regulate the motion of their bodies to the cadence. 
They always begin with a beat of the foot, and then play 
gently on these drums : after which, they lay them aside in order 
to clap hands, jump, dance, and bawl as loud as their power 
will permit them. These acclamations are intended as an 
act of devotion, the merit of which is grounded on a passage 
in the Psalms of David, in which he invites all nations to cry 
aloud, and clap their hands for joy ! 

To conclude, the Abyssinians commemorate their deceased 
friends, and have proper prayers for them. The collection of 
canons Avhich they make use of, enjoins them to offer the sacri¬ 
fice of the mass, and to pray for tire dead, on the third and 
seventh day, at the month’s end, and at the conclusion of the 
year. They have prayers, likewise, for the invocation of the 
saints,as well as legends, relics, and miracles without number. 

Sec. 7.—Religious Tenets and Customs of the Armenians. 

The Armenians , from Armenia, a province of Asia, con¬ 
sisting of the modern Turcomania and part of Persia, were 
formerly a branch of the Greek Church. They Q enera j ac _ 
professed the same faith, and acknowledged the count . 
same subjection to the see of Constantinople, till 
nearly the middle of the sixth century, when the supposed he¬ 
resy of the Monophysites spread through Africa, and Asia, 
and comprehended the Armenians among its votaries. But, 
though the members of this church still agree with the other 
Monophysites in the principal doctrine of That sect, respecting 
the unity of the divine and human nature in Christ, they differ 
from them in so many points of faith, worship, and discipline, 
that they hold no communion with that branch of the Mono¬ 
physites who are Jacobites in the more limited sense of that 
term, nor with the Copts or the Abyssinians.. 

The Armenians allow and accept the articles of faith ac¬ 
cording to the council of Nice, and use the Apostle’s Creed. 
With respect to the Trinity, they agree with the Tepels 
Greeks in acknowledging three persons in one ene s ' 
divine nature, and that the Holy Ghost proceeds only from 
the Father. They believe that Christ descended into hell, 
and liberated thence all the souls of the damned, by the grace 
21 


242 


OTHER BRANCHES OF 


and favour of his glorious presence; that this liberation was 
not for ever, nor by a plenary pardon or remission, but only 
till the end of the world, when the souls of the damned shall 
again be returned into eternal flames. 

The Armenians believe, that neither the souls nor the bo¬ 
dies of any saints or prophets departed this life, are in heaven, 
except the blessed Virgin, and the prophet Elias. Yet, not¬ 
withstanding their opinion that the saints shall not be admitted 
into hea ven till the day of judgment, by a certain imitation of 
the Greek and Latin churches, they invoke those saints with 
prayers, reverence and adore their pictures and images, and 
burn to them lamps and candles. The saints commonly in¬ 
voked by them, are all the prophets and apostles; and also 
St. Silvester, St. Savorich, &c. 

They worship after the Eastern manner, by prostrating 
their bodies, and kissing the ground three times. When they 
first enter the church, they uncover their heads, 
w 01 sup. anc j cross themselves three times; but afterwards 

they cover their heads, and sit cross-legged on carpets. The 
greatest part of their public divine service is performed in the 
morning, before it is light. They are very devout on vigils to 
feasts, and on Saturday evenings, when they all go to church, 
and, after their return home, perfume their houses with in¬ 
cense, and adorn their little pictures with lamps. In their 
monasteries, the whole Psalter of David is read over every 
twenty-four hours; but in the cities and parochial churches, 
the Psalter is divided into eight portions, and each portion 
into eight parts, at the end of each of which is said the Gloria 
Patri, &c. 

The rites and ceremonies of the Armenian church greatly 
resemble those of the Greeks. Their liturgies also are essen¬ 
tially the same, or at least ascribed to the same 
ceremonies. aut ^ors. The fasts, which they observe annu¬ 
ally, are not only more numerous, but kept with 
greater rigour and mortification than is usual in any other 
Christian community. They mingle the whole course of the 
year with fasting; and there is not a single day, which is not 
appointed either for a fast or a festival. They commemorate 
our Lord’s nativity on the 6th of January, and thus celebrate 
in one festival his birth, epiphany, and baptism. 

The Armenians practise the trine immersion, which they 
consider as essential to baptism. After baptism, they apply 
the enyrop or chrism , and anoint the forehead, eyes, ears, 
breast, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet, with conse¬ 
crated oil, in the form of a cross. Then they administer to 


THE GREEK CHURCH. 


243 


the child the eucharist, with which they only rub its lips. The 
eucharist is celebrated only on Sundays and festivals. They 
do not mix the wine with water, nor put leaven into their bread, 
as do the Greeks. They stfeep the bread in the wine, and 
thus the communicant receives both kinds together,—a form 
different from that of the Latin, Greek, and reformed churches. 
They differ from the Greeks in administering bread unleavein 
ed, made like a wafer ; and, from the Romans, in giving both 
kinds to the laity. 

Before any persons, whether men or women, presume to 
enter their churches, they pull their shoes off at the church- 
door, where there are chests to lock them up in, during the 
time of divine service. On entering, they cross themselves 
three times, but after the same form, according to Father le 
Brun, as is observed in the Latin Church. The men are all 
uncovered. The clergy themselves are without shoes in the 
choir; but those who officiate in the sanctuary put on black 
slippers. During the celebration of the mass and other parts 
of divine service, all the communicants either stand or sit up¬ 
on the ground, the men cross-legged, and the women upon 
their heels. Many of the people stay a long time in the 
church, and are often there by break of day. Father Mother 
relates, that he was very much affected with the modest de¬ 
portment observed in the exercise of their devotion; and, Ri- 
caut says, his heart w r as melted with the warmth and ardency 
of their piety, which is considerably augmented at certain sea¬ 
sons, particularly in the Holy Week. 

In their fasts they are much more rigorous than the Greeks, 
and no dispensation is allowed on any account. During the 
forty days of their Lent, which precedes their F , lsts 
Easter, they must eat nothing but herbs, roots, 
beans, peas, and the like, and no greater quantity of them than 
is just sufficient to support nature. The Armenians, however, 
according to Tournefort, are allowed to eat fish on Sundays. 
To these acts of self-denial, we must add another, which is 
the natural result of an habitual practice of such long and se¬ 
vere fasts, viz.—their abstinence from women. Their most 
rigid devotees look upon a breach of this mode of mortifica¬ 
tion, as a crime of the most enormous nature. They have 
an established custom of having no mass on fast-days and 
during their Lent; but on Sundays only, there is a kind of 
spiritual humiliation. This mass is celebrated at noon, and 
is called low-mass; because there is a curtain drawn before 
the altar, and the priest, who is unseen, pronounces nothing 
with an audible voice, but the gospel and the creed. All their 


244 


OTHER BRANCHES OF 


fasts in general are observed with the same strictness and aus¬ 
terity as their grand Lent. 

Their churches have the front towards the east, in order 
that the priest, who celebrates mass, and the whole congrega¬ 
nt , tion, may stand with their faces directly to that 
quarter. The church js divided generally into 
four parts, that is to say, the sanctuary, the choir, the space 
peculiarly allotted for the lay-rnen, and that appropriated to 
the service of the women: which is always the nearest to the 
door. The choir is divided from the place allotted for the 
men by rails about six feet high. The sanctuary is five or 
six steps higher than the choir. In the centre of the sanc¬ 
tuary stands the altar, which is small and insulated, in order 
that the priest may thurify and go round it. The majority of 
the churches have a dome with several windows in it, to give 
light to the sanctuary. There are no seats in that part of the 
church, because both the celebrant and his assistants are 
obliged to stand all the time of divine service in that holy 
place. According to the directions, hoAvever, in their liturgy, 
the priest is ordered to sit down during the lesson out of the 
prophets, and the epistle, and then, in case the celebrant should 
be a bishop, or a priest well stricken in years, he is indulged 
with a chair. Generally, there are small rails between the 
two stair-cases leading from the sanctuary to the choir; and 
those who serve at the altar are allowed to lean against or 
rest themselves upon them. The vestry stands on the left side 
of the sanctuary on entering the church; and on the right 
side opposite to it, there is, in all great churches, another ves¬ 
try, which is made use of as a treasury. There is but one al¬ 
tar generally in each church. The choir is the place peculiarly 
appropriated to the service of the clergy; and the laity are 
never admitted into that division. There is no seat but the 
bishop’s, which is erected on the left-hand side of the door; 
but when there are several bishops present, there are stools 
brought for them, and set on each side of the episcopal chair: 
—the others either stand all the time of divine service, or sit 
cross-legged on the ground, according to the custom of the 
country. The choristers have neither stool nor desk, but 
when the lessons are to be read there is a folding desk brought 
out, and set in the centre, which is covered with an embroi¬ 
dered veil. Neither is there any fixed pulpit erected for the 
preacher; but when there is a sermon, a moveable pulpit is 
generally placed at the door of the choir: the patriarch, how- 
ever, preaches in the sanctuary. As to the third and fourth 
divisions of the church, there is nothing worthy of notice in 


THE GREEK CHURCH. 


245 


either of them. Such churches as are poor have their pave¬ 
ments covered with matting, but those which are rich with 
fine carpets; and to prevent the people from soiling them, a 
sufficient number of spitting-pots are provided. A similar 
reason may be assigned for pulling off their shoes at the 
church-door. 

In those cities where the Armenian merchants carry on a 
great trade, the churches are embellished with beautiful pic¬ 
tures and rich tapestry; particularly the sanctuary, which, at 
all times wffien there is no celebration of the mass, is conceal¬ 
ed by a fine curtain. The sacred vessels and vestments are 
equally grand and magnificent; and whilst the Greeks have 
only two insignificant lights, scarcely sufficient to enable the 
priest to read mass, the Armenian churches are surrounded 
w r ith illuminations in great abundance. 

The altar is uncovered at ail times when there is no divine 
service; but always covered during the celebration of their 
mass. The altars are but small and without relics: formerly 
the cross, and the book of the gospels only, were placed upon 
them. The Armenians, in imitation of the Latins, have for 
many years past placed their candlesticks there, and very 
frequently a great number of them; and fill up the steps with 
crosses. A number of lamps are always burning during the 
celebration of mass; and one particularly in the centre of the 
sanctuary, which is never extinguished. The faithful offer 
wax-tapers to be burnt in mass-time. According to Father 
Monier, two masses are very seldom said in one day at the 
same church, or if there should, there is but one at each altar. 
Nothing but high mass is celebrated amongst them, and that 
at break of day, except on the vigil of the Epiphany and Eas- 
ter-eve, when it is celebrated in the evening. 

Children generally leave the choice of the person whom 
they are to marry, as well as the settlement of the mar¬ 
riage articles, to their parents or nearest relations. 

Their marriages, according to Tournefort, are emo ^g S ^ ei ~ 
the result of the mother’s choice, who very 
seldom advises with any persons upon the subject except 
her husband; and even that deference is paid with no small 
reluctance. After the terms of accommodation are settled 
and adjusted, the mother of the young man pays a visit to 
the young lady, accompanied by a priest and two venerable 
matrons, and presents her with a ring, as the first tack pro¬ 
mise of her intended husband. He generally makes his ap¬ 
pearance at the same time, with all the seriousness he is able 
to assume, or perhaps with all the perplexity of one who has 
21 * 


246 


OTHER BRANCHES OF 


not the liberty to make his own choice. Tournefort assures 
us, that this serious deportment is carried to such a pitch, that 
at the first interview even a smile would be looked upon as 
indecent, and even the young virgin at that time conceals either 
her charms or defects, under an impenetrable veil. The priest 
who attends on this occasion, is always treated with a glass 
of good liquor. The Armenians never publish the bans of 
matrimony, as is customary with other Christian churches. 
The evening before the wedding, the bridegroom and the bride 
send each other some presents. On the wedding-day, there 
is a procession on horseback, and the bridegroom rides in the 
front, from his mistress’s house, having on his head a gold or 
silver network, or a flesh-coloured gauze veil, according to his 
.quality. This network hangs down to his waist. In his right 
hand he holds one end of a girdle, whilst the bride, who fol¬ 
lows him on horseback, covered with a white veil, which 
reaches down to her horse’s legs, has hold of the other. Two 
attendants walk on each side of her horse, and hold the reins. 
The bride is sometimes conducted to church between two 
matrons, and the bridegroom walks on foot accompanied by a 
friend, who carries his sabre. 

The relations and friends, (generally young men and maids,) 
either on horseback or on foot, accompany them to church 
with great order and decorum in the procession, having wax- 
tapers in their hands, and a band of music marching before 
them. They alight at the church-door, and the bridegroom 
and bride walk up to the very steps of the sanctuary, still hold¬ 
ing the ends of the girdle in their hands. They there stand 
side by side, and the priest having put the Bible upon their 
heads, pronounces the sacramental form; he then performs the 
ceremony of the ring, and says mass. The nuptial benedic¬ 
tion is expressed in the following terms. Bless, O Lord! this 
marriage with thy everlasting benediction; grant that this 
man and this woman may live in the constant practice of faith, 
hope, and charity; endow) them with sobriety; inspire them 
with holy thoughts, and secure their bed from all manner of 
pollution, Sfc. 

When an infant dies under nine years of age, the father, 
or his nearest relation, provides prayers to Almighty God, 

Funeral cer days success i ve ly> for the soul of the de- 

emoniesc m cease d j an( l during all that time pays the ex¬ 
penses of the priest to whose care that act of de¬ 
votion is intrusted. On the ninth day the solemn service for 
the soul is performed. Those who are pious and in good cir¬ 
cumstances have a particular day set apart for the commemc 


THE GREEK CHURCH. 


247 


ration of their relations, and for the due celebration of all the 
requisite offices. Father Monier assures us also, that it is a 
received custom amongst them to visit the monuments of the 
dead upon Easter Monday; at which time the men sigh and 
groan, but the women actually howl; and this they call the 
visible testimonies of their sorrow and concern. These sighs 
and groans of the men, and these howlings of the women, 
however, are soon over ; and a more agreeable scene imme¬ 
diately succeeds; they all withdraw under the refreshing 
shade of some luxuriant tree, where an elegant entertainment 
erases the idea of affliction: sorrow is now drowned in li¬ 
quors, and the diversions of the afternoon are altogether as 
extravagant and excessive as their morning lamentations. 


CHAPTER II. 

RELIGIOUS TENETS, CUSTOMS, CEREMONIES, &c. OF THE 
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

SEC. I.-TENETS, CUSTOMS, &C. 

The Roman Catholics hold all the fundamental tenets of 
the Christian religion. They worship one God in three 
persons; viz. the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: 
and they maintain that they are to put then t h 0 p cs 
confidence in God alone , through the merits of 
his incarnate Son , who was crucified and rose from the dead 
for our justification. They receive with the same certainty, 
all the other articles of the Apostles’ creed. The Protestants 
do not differ with them in relation to the fundamentals of this 
belief; but affirm that the Catholics have made a great num¬ 
ber of additions, some of which are repugnant to the Apostles’ 
creed, and tend very much to weaken the fundamental tenets. 
They further affirm that the Roman Catholics are too indul¬ 
gent* in their toleration of an infinite number of customs, 
which deviate from the spirit of Christianity. 

The following is a summary of the tenets held by the Ro¬ 
man Catholic church, according to Mr. Bos- Tenets of the 
suet’s Exposition of the Catholic Catechism, Roman Catho- 
and which on good authority is alleged to be 1CS - 
conformable to the decrees of the famous council of Trent. 



243 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


“ To begin,” says he, “ with the adoration which is due to 
God, the Catholic Church teaches, that it principally consists 
in believing that he is the Creator and Lord of all 
of God*things; and that it is the duty of Catholics to ad¬ 
here to him with all the faculties of their souls, 
through faith, hope, and charity, as.being the sole object that 
can make them happy by the communication of that sove¬ 
reign good, which is himself. 

“ This internal adoration which they render unto God in 
spirit and in truth, is attended with its external signs, of which 
sacrifice is the principal, and can be offered to God alone; 
because sacrifice was ordained to make a public and solemn 
acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty over us, and of our 
absolute dependance upon him. 

“ The same Church teaches, that all religious worship 
ought to terminate in God, as its necessary 
er, d 5 an d that if the veneration which is paid 
Virgin^ SSe to the Blessed Virgin and the saints may be 
termed religious, it is because it relates of neces¬ 
sity to God. 

“ The Catholic Church, in telling us that it is beneficial to 
pray to the saints, teaches us to pray to them in that spirit of 
charity, and according to that order of brotherly 
ofl™ 1 ^ ove ’ inclines us to request the assistance 

of our brethren living upon earth ; and the cate¬ 
chism of the Council of Trent concludes from this doctrine, 
that if the quality of Mediator, which the Holy Scriptures at¬ 
tribute to Jesus Christ, received the least prejudice from the in¬ 
tercession of the saints who dwell with God, it would receive 
no less an injury from the mediation of the faithful, who live 
with us upon earth. 

“ This catechism demonstrates the great difference there is 
between the manner of imploring God’s aid and assistance, 
and that of the saints: for it expressly declares, that the Ca¬ 
tholics r pray to God either to bestow on them some blessing, or 
to deliver them from some misfortune; but since the saints 
are more acceptable in his sight than they are , they beg of 
them to be their advocates only , and to procure for them such 
things as they leant. For which reason , the Catholics make 
use cf two forms of prayer widely different from each other , 
for when they make their applications to God himself they 
say , ‘ Have mercy on us, hear us !’ But when they ad¬ 
dress themselves to the saints , they only say , ‘ Pray for us !’ 
By which we are to understand, that in whatever terms those 
prayers which are directed to the saints are conceived, the in- 




ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


249 


tention of the Church and of her faithful servants always re¬ 
duces them to that form.” 

Considering, however, that this honour, which the Catho¬ 
lic Church pays to the saints, principally appears before their 
images and sacred relics, it will be proper to ex- Reverence 
plain the belief of the Church in both these par- for images and 
ticulars. Sacred Relics. 

In regard to images, the Catholics are expressly forbidden 
by the Council of Trent, to believe there is any virtue in them 
of so heavenly a nature as to prove an inducement to pay di¬ 
vine adoration to them : and they are enjoined to o,sk no fa¬ 
vours of them, to put no trust nor confidence in them, but to 
reverence them only in honour of the originals which they re¬ 
present. 

The respect which is paid to relics, in imitation of the primi¬ 
tive Church, must be understood in the same manner. They 
look upon the bodies of the saints as having been victims of¬ 
fered up to God by martyrdom or penance, without in any 
way diminishing that duty and respect which they owe to 
God himself, &c. 

As to the point of justification, they believe That their sins 
are freely remitted by the divine mercy, for the sake of Jesus 
Christ; and that they are freely justified, be¬ 
cause neither faith nor good works, which pre- of J M^^ tlon 
cede their justification, can merit that favour. 

As to the merit of good works, the Catholic Church, teaches, 
that eternal life ought to be proposed to the children of God , 
both as a grace mercifully promised them by the Sanctifying 
means arid mercies of our Lord Jesus Christ, grace opposed 
and as a reward faithfully bestowed on them for 3 

their good works and merits, in consequence of 
that promise. These are the express terms of the Council of 
Trent. But that the pride of mankind should not flatter itself 
with the idea of a presumptuous merit, the same Council 
teaches, that the whole worth and value of Christian works 
arise from a sanctifying grace, which is freely granted us in 
the name of Jesus Christ; and is the result of that constant 
influence which this divine Head has upon his members. 

The Catholics openly declare, that they cannot be accepta¬ 
ble to.God, but in and through Jesus Christ; nor do they 
apprehend how any other sense can be imputed Salvation 
to their belief. They place all the hopes of their through Jesus 
salvation so perfectly in him alone, that they dai- Christ only, 
ly direct the following petition to God in the 
sacrifice; Vouchsafe, O God! to grant unto us sinners, thy 


250 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


servants , who trust in the multitude of thy mercies , some share 
and society with thy blessed apostles and martyrs , into the 
number of whom we beseech thee to receive us , having no re¬ 
gard to our ow7i merit; but pardoning us through thy grace 
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. 

The Catholics, without exception, teach that Jesus Christ 
only, who was both God and man, was able, by the infinite 
dignity of his person, to offer up a sufficient satis- 
Nature of the jf ac tion to God for our sins ; but having made 
an abundant recompense for them, he had power 
to apply that infinite satisfaction to us in two several ways; 
either by an absolute remission, without the least reserve 
of any penalty.; or by exchanging a greater for a less, that 
is to say, an eternal for a temporal punishment. As the first 
is the most perfect and conformable to his divine goodness, 
he makes use of that, first of all, in the sacrament of baptism ; 
and they believe, that he uses the second in the forgiveness 
which he grants to those who, after baptism, relapse into sin, 
he being in some measure compelled thereto, through the in¬ 
gratitude of those who have abused his first favours; for 
which reason they are to suffer some temporal punishment, 
though the eternal be taken off 

In order to satisfy the duties imposed upon them by their 
religion, the Catholics are subject to certain penances, which 
ought to be performed on their parts with repen t- 
induKences n< ^ ance anc ^ humiliation; and it is the necessity of 
these works of expiation, which obliged the pri¬ 
mitive Church to inflict those punishments upon penitents, that 
are termed canonical. 

When the Church, therefore, imposes those painful and la¬ 
borious penances upon sinners, and they undergo them with 
patience and humility, it is called satisfaction; and when the 
Church shows any regard either to the ardent devotion of the 
penitents, or to other good works which she prescribes, and 
remits any part of the punishment due to them, it is termed 
indulgence. 


The Council of Trent proposes nothing more relating to 
indulgences, than that the Church had the power of granting 
them from Jesus Christ, and that the practice of them is 
wholesome ; which custom , that Council adds, ought still be 
preserved , though with moderation , lest ecclesiastical disci¬ 
pline should be iccakened by too great a toleration: from 
whence it is manifest, that the articles of indulgences only re¬ 
gard discipline. 

It is the belief of the Catholics, that those who depart this 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


251 


life in peace and charity, and are, notwithstanding, subject to 
those temporal punishments which divine jus¬ 
tice has reserved for them, must suffer them in Pur S ator y* 
the other world; and for that reason the whole Christian 
Church in the earliest ages, offered up both prayers, alms, and 
sacrifices for the faithful who have died in peace, and in the 
communion of the Church, with a lively hope and expectation 
of their being relieved by those acts of devotion. This is 
what the Council of Trent proposes that the Catholics should 
believe with respect to souls confined in purgatory, without 
determining either the nature of their punishments, or several 
other things of the like kind; in regard to which that holy 
Council exacts considerable precaution, and particularly con¬ 
demns those who say any thing that is uncertain and preca¬ 


rious. 


The sacraments of the New Testament are not only sacred 
tokens of grace, or seals by which it is confirmed to them, but 
they are also instruments of the Holy Ghost, 
which apply and confer it on them by virtue of Sacraments 611 
the words pronounced, and the outward action 
performed, on their behalf, provided they do not prevent the 
effects of it by their own evil dispositions. 

When God annexes so high a prerogative to external signs, 
which in their nature bear no proportion to such excellent ef¬ 
fects, he plainly signifies that, independently of all that the 
Catholics can do inwardly through their good inclinations, a 
special operation of the Holy Ghost, and a particular applica¬ 
tion of the merits of our blessed Saviour, represented to us by 
the sacraments, must still intervene to sanctify them. This 
doctrine, therefore, cannot be rejected without offering an in¬ 
dignity to the merit of Jesus Christ ; and to the influence of 
the divine power in their regeneration. 

They acknowledge seven signs or sacraments, ordained by 
Jesus Christ as the ordinary means by which the new man 
is sanctified and made perfect. Their divine institution ap-. 
pears from the sacred Scriptures, either by the express words 
of Jesus Christ himself, or by grace, which is accordingly 
annexed to them, and necessarily denotes an order from God. 

As infants cannot supply, the defects of baptism, by acts of 
faith, hope, and charity, or by any vow hereafter to receive 
that sacrament, the Catholics believe, that if they Baptism, 
do not actually receive it, they are in no wise 
partakers of the grace of redemption ; and so dying in the guilt 
of Adam, have no share at all in Jesus Christ. 

The Catholics say that imposition of hands, practised by 


252 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


the blessed apostles for the confirmation of the faithful against 
Confirmation persecutions, having its chief effect in the inter- 
' * nal descent of the Holy Ghost, and the infusion 

of his gracious gifts, ought not to have been rejected by 
their adversaries on pretence that the Holy Ghost does not at 
present descend visibly upon them. Indeed, all Christian 
Churches, from the time of the apostles, have religiously pre¬ 
served that practice, making use likewise of the sacred oint¬ 
ment in baptism, to show the virtue of that sacrament by 
a more express representation of the unction of the Holy 
Ghost. 

They believe that it was the will of Jesus Christ, that 
those who have submitted themselves to the authority of the 
Confession Church by baptism, and have afterwards viola- 
and absolu- ted the laws of the Gospel, shall be subject to the 
tlon- decision of the same Church in the tribunal of 

penance, at which it exercises the full power granted to it of 
absolution and remission of sins. 

The terms of the commission which is given to the ministers 
of the Church to forgive sins, are so general, that it would be 
presumptuous to reduce it only to public sins; and as, when 
they pronounce absolution in the name of Jesus Christ, they 
only observe the express terms of that commission, so the sen¬ 
tence is looked upon as passed by Jesus Christ himself, in 
whose name they are appointed judges. He is the invisible 
high priest, who absolves the penitent inwardly, whilst the 
priest performs the same office externally. 

The Holy Ghost having annexed to extreme unction, an 
express promise of remission of sins, and the relief of the sick, 
Extreme nothing more can be required to make this sa- 

unction. cred ceremony a real sacrament. It is to be ob¬ 

served, however, that the sick person, according 
to the doctrine of the Council of Trent, receives more conso¬ 
lation and relief in soul than in body ; and as spiritual benefit 
is ever the principal object of the new law, it is that which the 
Catholics chiefly expect from this holy unction, in case they 
are duly prepared for it; whereas corporeal relief in sickness 
is only granted unto them with respect to their eternal salva¬ 
tion, according to the secret designs of Divine Providence, 
and the different degrees of preparation and faith, which are 
to be met with in the faithful. 

Upon considering that Jesus Christ has given a new turn 
to the holy state of marriage, (see Matthew, chap. xix. v. 5,) 
Matrimony b y reducing it to the constant and indissoluble 
y ‘ union of two persons only; and likewise reflect- 




The Keys presented the Pope. p. 268. 



Pope’s Chapel, p. 268. 































































































































































































































ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


253 

ing that this inseparable union is a mark or token of his 
eternal union with his church, it will be very easy to compre¬ 
hend that the marriage of the faithful is attended by the Holv 
Ghost and the grace of God. 

The imposition of hands, which the Catholic spiritual minis¬ 
ters receive at their ordination, being attended, according to 
their belief, with so immediate an influence from 
the Holy Ghost, ( see 1 Timothy , chap. iv. and 2 Im Positionof 
Tim. chap, i.) and with so perfect an infusion of lan s ' 
grace, ought to be reckoned also among the number of sacra¬ 
ments. 

The real presence of the body and blood of Jesus Christ 
in the sacrament of the Eucharist , is firmly established by the 
words of the institution, which the Catholics un- T} „ 
derstand in the literal sense; for they maintain r j st 16 ucia * 
that there is not any thing in the words which 
Jesus Christ makes use of in the institution of this mystery, 
that induces them to take them figuratively; and this reason 
is sufficient, in their opinion, to determine them in favour of 
the former. 

The ceremony of the Eucharist may be considered as cne 
of the fundamental pillars of the Catholic religion, and we 
shall therefore give the exposition of it, as laid down by the 
Romish ritual. “ It is evident,” say the Catholics, “that 
these words of our Saviour, Take, eat , this is my body which 
is given for you , show us, that as the ancient Jews w*ere not 
only united in spirit at the sacrifice of the victims which were 
offered up for them, but were also partakers of the flesh'which 
was sacrificed, and which was also a sign to them of the share 
they had in that oblation; so Jesus Christ having offered 
up himself a sacrifice for us, it was his pleasure that we should 
in reality partake of the flesh of that adorable victim ; in order 
that the actual communication of it might be a lasting testi¬ 
mony to each of us in particular, that he had not only assumed 
his body, but made a sacrifice of it for us.” 

“ Thus the eating of the body, and drinking the blood of 
the Son of God, is as real at the holy communion, as grace, 
expiation of sins, and participation of the sacrifice of Jesus 
Christ, is actual and effectual under the new covenant. 

“ As he was willing, however, to try our faith in this mys¬ 
tery, and free us at the same time from the horror of eating 
his flesh, and drinking his blood, under their proper species, 
it was necessary for him to give them to us disguised under a 
species of another nature ; and if these considerations induced 
him to let us eat th° flesh of our sacrifice, in a manner differ* 
22 


254 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


ent from the Jews, yet he was not for that reason obliged to 
subtract any thing from its reality and substance. 

“ It appears, therefore, that for the accomplishment of the 
ancient types, and in order to put us in the actual possession 
of the sacrifice that was offered up for our sins, it was the in¬ 
tention of Jesus Christ to give us in reality his body and blood, 
and this does not admit of any denial. We can never agree 
that those words should be received only in a figurative sense, 
because the Son of God, who was so careful to explain every 
thing to his apostles which he taught them under parables 
and figures, said nothing of that kind to explain this matter; 
and it is thence evident that he left these words in their natural 
signification. It is as easy for the Son of God to cause his 
body to be in the Eucharist, by saying, This is my body , as to 
cure a woman of her disease by saying, Woman , be thou free 
from thine infirmity; or to preserve a young man’s life by 
saying to his father, Thy son liveth; or, in short, to pardon 
the sins of him who was sick of the palsy, by saying to him, 
Thy sins are forgiven thee” 

Having thus laid down the tenets of the Church relating 
to these words of Jesus Christ, This is my body , the following 
is the opinion of the Catholics concerning those which he add¬ 
ed to them, This do in remembrance of me. “ It is evident,” 
they say, “ that it was the design of the Son of God to oblige 
us thereby to commemorate the death which he suffered for 
our salvation ; and St. Paul concludes from this passage, that 
we exhibit the death of the Lord in that mystery. Now we 
must not persuade ourselves that this commemoration of our 
Lord’s death excludes the real presence of his body; on the 
contrary, if we reflect on what we have just explained, it will 
evidently appear, that this remembrance is grounded upon the 
real presence; for as the Jews, at the eating of their peace- 
offerings, remembered they had been sacrificed for them; so 
likewise, when we eat the flesh of Jesus Christ, our victim, we 
ought to remember that he died for us. It is the same flesh, 
therefore, eaten by the faithful, which not only revives in us 
the memory of his being offered up for us, but confirms us in 
the truth of it; and from being able to say that this solemn 
confirmation which Jesus Christ enjoins us to make, excludes 
the real presence of his flesh, we find, on the contrary, that 
this affectionate remembrance of him, required of us at the 
holy table, as being offered up for us, is grounded upon that 
same flesh being really taken there; since, in reality, we can¬ 
not possibly forget that he gave his body as a sacrifice for 
us, when we see that he still gives us daily the same to eat.’ 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


255 


On this head the Catholics say, “ As it was not meet and 
proper that our senses should perceive any thing in this mys¬ 
tery of faith, so neither Avas it convenient that any 
thing should be changed, with regard to them, Transubstem- 
in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. Upon 
which account, as Ave perceive the same species, and feel the 
same effects as before, in that sacrament, Ave ought not to be in 
any Avay surprised, if sometimes, and in some sense, it should 
go under the same denomination. Yet our faith acknoAV- 
ledges no other substances on this occasion, than that which 
is meant by those very Avords; that is to say, the very body 
and blood of Christ, into which the bread and wine are 
changed ; and this is Avhat Ave call Transubstantiation .” 

“ It is to be obseiwed, that there are tAvo actions in this mys¬ 
terious sacrament, really distinct, though relative to each other. 
The one is the consecration of the bread and Avine, Avhich are 
thereby changed into the body and blood ; and the other is the 
manducation , Avhereby Ave are made partakers of that heaven¬ 
ly food.” 

“ Thus, the Son of God is set on the sacred table, by virtue 
of those Avords, clothed in the signs which represent his death ; 
and this is wrought by the consecration. This religious ac¬ 
tion, moreover, carries with it an acknoAvledgment of the di¬ 
vine sovereignty, inasmuch as Jesus Christ, Avho is actually 
present, renews and perpetuates the memory of his obedience, 
even to his dying on the cross; for which reason nothing can 
be wanting to make it a true sacrifice.” 

“When AA r e consider Avhat Jesus Christ performs in this 
mystery, and that we see him, through faith, actually present 
on the holy table under these signs of death, Ave unite our¬ 
selves to him in this condition ; Ave present him to God as our 
only oblation, and our only propitiator through his blood, pro¬ 
testing that we have nothing to offer up to him, but Jesus 
Christ and the infinite merit cf his death. We consecrate all 
our prayers through that divine sacrifice, and when Ave offer 
up Jesus Christ to God, Ave are at the same time instructed 
to offer up ourselves as lffing sacrifices to the Divine Majes¬ 
ty, in and through him.” 

“ The Church being instituted by God to be the guardian 
of the scriptures and of tradition, from her it is Authority of 
that Ave receive the canonical Avritings. t}ie Church. 

“ Being thus inseparably united to the sacred authority of 
the Church by means of the scriptures, which Ave receive from 
her; so from her likewise we do receive our tradition, and by 
means thereof are taught the true sense of the scriptures. 


256 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


Whence it comes to pass, that the Church professes to teach 
nothing as coming from herself, nor to invent any new doc¬ 
trine, but' only follows and declares divine Revelation by the 
inward direction of the Holy Ghost, graciously given to her 
for her guide and instructed 

“ The dissension which arose, relating to the ceremonies of 
the law, in the Apostle’s time, demonstrates that the Holy 
Ghost makes the Church his interpreter; and their acts have 
taught all ages to come, by the manner of deciding that con¬ 
troversy, the authority by which all dissensions of that kind 
are to be concluded. So that, whenever there shall arise any 
disputes, which may create a division among the faithful, the 
Church shall always interpose her authority; and her bishops 
being assembled, shall say after the Apostles, It seemed good 
to the Holy Ghost , and to us; and when she hath once spoken, 
her children shall be taught not to make new inquiries into 
the articles she hath resolved, but humbly to submit to her de¬ 
cisions. In complying herewith, we shall imitate St. Paul 
and Silas, who delivered that first decree of the Apostles to 
the faithful, and who, far from suffering them to re-examine 
what had been determined upon, went from town to town , and 
charged them to keep the institutions of the Apostles. 

“This is the mauner in which the children of God sub¬ 
mit to the decision of the Church, believing they hear the 
oracles of the Holy Ghost from her mouth ; for which reason 
in the creed, after we have repeated, I believe in the Holy 
Ghost , we immediately after add, the holy Catholic Church. 
By which article we oblige ourselves to acknowledge a 
perpetual and infallible truth in the universal Church, since 
that very Church, in-which we believe at all times, would 
cease so to be, should she cease to teach that truth which God 
was pleased to reveal. Whoever, therefore, suspects that 
the Church makes an ill use of her authority, to establish 
the spirit of untruth, has no faith in him by wdiom the Church 
is governed.” 

According to the Catechism of the Council of Trent, the 
Roman Catholic Church is one, visible, holy, and catholic, or 

Supremacy un iy ersa l>. established by the hand of God, on a 
cf the Pope. } basis, who has bestowed on it the power 

of opening the gates of heaven to all true be¬ 
lievers, and shutting them to all heretics and infidels. It 
likewise has the power of pardoning and absolving sins, and 
excommunicating all those who are disobedient. This 
church is both triumphant and militant. The former portion 
is the illustrious society of those blessed spirits and saints , who % 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


257 


having triumphed over the world , the flesh, and the devil , en¬ 
joy everlasting happiness in peace and security. The latter 
is the congregation of all true believers upon earth, who are 
constantly obliged, during their whole lives, to resist the 
world, the flesh, and the devil. Jesus Christ is the immediate 
governor of that part of the church which is triumphant in the 
heavens ; but, as the church militant required a visible head 
or director, he has substituted one in his room, who is ac¬ 
counted by all Catholics, as the sole and sovereign depositary 
of the faith, and perpetual director of the belief of all true 
Christians. 

This visible head is called the pope; but the Catholics are 
divided in their notions with regard to his power: some con¬ 
sidering him to be inferior to a general council. 

The pope takes place of all Christian princes, to hinfby Em- 
as the vicar of Jesus Christ here upon earth, perors. 

The emperors, who, in former times, were the 
first princes in the Christian world, went to Rome to receive 
the imperial diadem from the hands of his holiness, and there 
solemnly promised and bound themselves by the Trinity, by 
the wood of the cross, and by the relics of the saints, to exak 
and support the church and its head to the utmost of their 
power. The emperors, before their entrance into the city ol 
Rome, took the oath; the form of which the ceremonial of the. 
Roman church has preserved and transmitted to us. At 
length, after the church and its head had perfectly secured 
their own rights and privileges, the emperor was admitted; 
upon which occasion the clergy went out to meet him in their 
ceremonial habits, and tendered him the cross to kiss. His 
holiness, sitting on a throne, received him before the first por¬ 
tico of the Church of the Apostles. There his imperial majesty 
uncovered himself, and knelt down as soon as he saw the 
pope, who styled himself the Vicar of Jesus Christ. After¬ 
wards he approached him gradually, with one knee always 
upon the ground ; and, lastly, he kissed the feet of his holiness 
in a very devout manner, as a testimony of his respect to the 
Saviour of the World. But before his imperial majesty could 
be crowned, he was obliged to take a new oath, in which no¬ 
thing was omitted that could establish the pope’s prerogative, 
and the security of the church’s domains. After the corona¬ 
tion there was a solemn procession, in which his imperial ma¬ 
jesty appeared, for the first time, with his crown on his head, 
his sceptre in one hand, and a globe in the other; but as he 
went out of the basilica , he put all his regalia into the hands 
of one of his officers, in order to hold the stirrup, whilst the 
22 * 


258 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


pope mounted his horse; he even took the bridle, and for 
some time led the horse of the servant of the servants of Jesus 
Christ ; who, to testify his humility, pretended he could not 
admit of so extraordinary a submission ; nor did he consent 
till after several compliments on both sides, to receive, for the 
sake of Jesus Christ, the honour which his imperial majesty 
conferred upon him. 

We may here observe, that after the emperor had taken the 
oath to his holiness, he was usually clothed in the amice and 
surplice. The canons of St. Peter did him the honour to admit 
him as a brother, and to look on him as a subject of the pope, 
to whom all preferments belonging to the hierarchy of the 
church are subject. Whenever it pleased his holiness to be 
carried on his servant’s shoulders, the emperor was to be one 
of the assistants ; he was to pour out water to wash the hands 
of his holiness before he sat down to table, and to give him 
his first plate, &c. 

The Holy Father, being, in the opinion of the Roman Ca¬ 
tholics, far above all kings, is accounted the vicegerent of 

Accounted ^ 0( 1> anc l re & ent of the universe. Under this 
the vicegerent denomination he divided the new world between 
God. Spain and Portugal; he has a right to St. Paul’s 

sword, and with it to give apostolical chastise¬ 
ment to those who despise or disregard his decisions relating 
to the Christian faith. He never rises from his pontifical 
throne, nor uncovers himself to any person whomsoever; nor 
does he ever condescend to honour any one with a salute, by 
the least inclination of his head. To his imperial majesty, 
indeed, he rises a little on his admittance to the kiss of peace, 
after he has paid his respects to the pope’s feet. His holiness, 
however, sometimes salutes those princes who have the honour 
of an audience of him, with a slight inclination of his head; 
but then he is not in hisv pontifical robes ; and, although he 
may condescend to be courteous and complaisant, yet he is 
under no obligation to adopt that mode of conduct. The 
pope’s nuncio and legates take place of the ambassadors of all 
crowned heads. "• 

An oecumenical council is an assembly which represents 
the whole body of the universal church. "The name of coun- 

GEcumeni- * s £\ ven likewise to provincial and national 
cal council. assemblies of the clergy, who, at such times, 
however, represent only a part of the church. 
(Ecumenical councils are composed of ecclesiastical deputies 
irom the sovereign powers of Christendom, who represent 
their respective nations, and also of other prelates, doctors, &c. 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


259 


of particular churches, all assembled in a free place, where, 
without constraint, they may apply themselves to the reform¬ 
ation not only of manners and of doctrine, but also to the re¬ 
gulation and establishment of church discipline, &c. Thus 
assembled, they have authority to censure bishops, cardinals, 
and even his holiness himself, if his conduct be blame-worthy; 
they also possess power to depose any of them, when the good 
of religion requires it. In short, they form an assembly, 
which, by its superiority, being able to check the unjust pro¬ 
ceedings of popes, by subjecting them to the church in points 
of faith, and declaring them schismatics and heretics whenever 
they deviate from it, has more than once proved fatal to the 
See of Rome. The assemblies of Pisa, of Constance, and 
Bale, are incontestable instances of the truth of this assertion. 

In regard to the ceremonies observed at the calling of a 
council, as there has not been one since that of Trent, we 
shall describe them as they are found in Father Ceremonies 
Paul’s History of that council, who assures us, observed at 
that there was not less debate nor less embarrass- the calling' of 
rnent in settling the rank and precedency of the a counc * * 
bishops, than if they had been convened to arrange affairs of 
the last importance to the state, &c. The fathers of the coun¬ 
cil also insisted upon having the assembly-room hung with 
tapestry, without which, they were apprehensive that the 
council might be deemed a body of tradesmen and mechanics. 
Pope Paul III. issued out one bull for calling the council, and 
a second for opening it; both of which were read and regis¬ 
tered the first session. After a fast of three days, the legates 
and bishops, dressed in their pontifical robes, accompanied by 
their divines, the clergy of Trent, and all the people, went in 
solemn procession to the cathedral, where the first legate sung 
the mass of the Holy Ghost. Then the legates, in the pope’s 
name, made an harangue, in which, after speaking of the occa¬ 
sion of that august assembly, they exhorted the fathers to lay 
aside all passion and prejudice, to judge righteously, to have 
no other view but the glory of God, and the good of the 
Church. After this exhortation they all knelt down, prayed 
awhile to themselves, and then the president recited the prayer 
which begins with Adsumus Domine , Sancte Spiritus. By 
this comprehensive and devout prayer, immediate aid is asked 
of the Holy Ghost, that he would please to guide and direct 
the council, to inspire the fathers with just judgments, to ba¬ 
nish the spirit of disorder and discord far from them, and not 
to suffer them through ignorance to fall into error, or to bo 
biassed by bribes, or to be surprised by outward appearances. 


260 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


The litanies were now sung, the deacon then read the gospel, 
Si peccaveril frater tuus; and after this the Veni Creator 
was likewise sung, and then the fathers seated, themselves ac¬ 
cording to their respective ranks. The president having read 
the decree with an audible voice, and asked them if it was 
their pleasure to order and direct that the General and Holy 
Council of Trent should be opened to the glory of God, &c. 
each of the fathers, in his turn, answered Placet ; the legates 
first, then the bishops, and the rest of the fathers ; of the whole 
of which the notaries drew up a public act. Lastly, the Te 
Deum was sung, and the legates returned home after the first 
session, the cross being carried before them, and attended by 
the fathers, who had laid aside their pontifical habits. The 
ceremonies were almost the same at all the other sessions. In 
case the pope appears in person at the council, he and the fa¬ 
thers of the council, with the clergy of the city, go in proces¬ 
sion to the hall of the assembly in their pontifical robes. The 
pope, at the opening of the first session, sings the mass of the 
Holy Ghost; after which the cardinals, and the fathers of the 
council, clothed in their robes of ceremony, salute his holi- 
ness in their turns. High mass is seldom sung at the other 
sessions. His holiness for the most part hears a private 
mass, and afterwards goes to the council in his scarlet cope, 
and with the mitre on his head ; vehere, before the altar, he 
makes an harangue to the assembly, and then goes to his 
throne; the cardinals after that put on his sandals, and quam 
dilecta, a verse of one of the psalms is recited. 

The pope’s throne must be erected at the upper end of the 
assembly-room, and due care must be taken that there be two 
seats on the right and left side of the throne for the deacon’s 
assistants. If the emperor appears in person at the council, 
he is to be seated next the pope, and at his right hand, but to 
be so situated as to acknowledge the superiority of his holi¬ 
ness ; for the emperor’s seat reaches no higher than the 
pope’s footstool, and even this honour is reserved only for his 
imperial majesty, for there is but very little difference between 
the seats of kings and those of cardinals. In this hall, or as¬ 
sembly-room, there must be an altar for mass, with a cross 
upon it, also the Eucharist, and the relics of the saints. 

The Roman ceremonial exhibits the order and rank of 
those who have a deliberative vote in council:—1. The pope, 

Order and as ^ eac ^ t ^ ie Christian Church. 2. The col- 
rank of mem- lege of cardinals. 3. The patriarchs. 4. The 
bcrs of a coun- primates. 5. The archbishops. 6. The bishops. 

The abbots. 8. The generals of religious 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

orders. These, properly speaking, compose the councils- 
the doctors, divines, & c . making their appearance only to 
assist or direct the fathers by their learning and their advice 
Four cardinals of several orders, who are the dean, or first 
cardinal-bishop, the first cardinal-priest, the first cardinal-dea¬ 
con, and the cardinal camerlengo, or chamber- p 
lain, conjointly share the administration of affairs observed'auhe 
during the vacancy of the Holy See and the election of a 
holding of the conclave. The three former are P°P e - 
intrusted with the administration of justice, and all affairs re¬ 
lating to civil government. The latter breaks the seal of the 
church, called the fisherman’s ring, in the presence of three 
cardinals; and the vice-chancellor breaks open the seal of 
the chancery, in the presence of the chief officers who belong 
to that court. The impression of the fisherman’s ring is St. 
Peter holding a line with a bait to it in the water, and Ts made 
use of for those briefs which are sealed with red wax. The 
seal for bulls has the figure of St. Peter and St. Paul, with a 
cross on one side, and a bust with the name of the reigning 
pope on the other: when a pope dies, the bust and name are 
defaced, without damaging the rest of the seal; this last is 
only used for bulls sealed with lead. The camerlengo now 
orders money to be coined in his own name, with the device 
of the vacant see, which is that of two keys in the form of a 
cross, under the flag of the church; with this motto, Sede va¬ 
cant e. 

Policy exerts all her arts, and sets every spring in motion, 
at the election of a pope; nor do the electors always wait for 
the death of the present chief or head of the Church, to begin 
those cabals and intrigues which are proper for advancing 
him whom they esteem a fit person to succeed to the pontifical 
throne; and although the college invariably and unanimously 
invoke the assistance and aid of the Holy Ghost, to direct 
them in the choice of a Vicar of Jesus Christ, yet their emi¬ 
nences use all the precautions imaginable to prevent him from 
being in any way concerned in the election. The cardinals 
are obliged to enter the conclave ten days after the death of 
the pope; but before that time they hear the Mass of the Holy 
Ghost in the Gregorian Chapel, and some bishop makes a 
Latin harangue, exhorting them to make choice of a person 
who is worthy to fill the chair of the prince of the apostles. 
After this, their eminences march in procession to the con¬ 
clave, two by two, according to their rank, attended by the 
Swiss Guards and a vast crowd of people, the chorus all the 
while singing the “ Vcni Creator .” Being arrived at the con- 


262 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


clave, they take possession of their ceils by lot, after which 
they all go to the Paulin Chapel, where the bulls for the elec¬ 
tion of the pope are read, and the dean of the sacred college 
exhorts the assembly to act in conformity to them. When this 
is over, the cardinals are allowed to go home to dine, but must 
return to the conclave before three at night; at which time the 
master of the ceremonies acquaints them that they ought not 
to shut themselves up, unless they are determined to continue 
there as long as the conclave shall last, consistently with the 
order and direction of the bulls, in which it is regulated that 
those who go out shall not be permitted to return. The go¬ 
vernor and marshal of the conclave now post their soldiers in 
such order and in such places as they judge most requisite for 
the safety of the election. The ambassadors of princes, and 
all those who have any interest in the election of a future pope, 
are allowed ,to continue in the conclave for the first twenty- 
four hours. When the clock strikes three the master of the 
ceremonies rings a bell, after which all, except the electors, 
retire: the doors are then shut, the conclave is walled up, and 
guards^are posted at all the avenues. The cardinal-dean, and 
cardinal-camerlengo, now visit the conclave, to see if it be well 
shut, and an act thereof is drawn up by an apostolical notary. 

"None but the cardinals, and two conclavists for each, (one 
an ecclesiastic, and the other a soldier,) remain in the conclave. 
Those cardinals who are princes, or who are old, or infirm, 
are sometimes allowed three. The other persons appointed 
for the service of the conclave are the sacristan, the under-sa¬ 
cristan, a secretary, an under-secretary, a confessor, who is 
always a Jesuit, two physicians, a surgeon, two barbers, an 
apothecary, and their apprentices, five masters of the ceremo¬ 
nies, a bricklayer, a carpenter, and sixteen porters or valets, 
for hard labour. 

Though the office of a conclavist be incommodious and un¬ 
easy, yet on account of its privileges it is very much sought 
after; fjpr a conclavist is sometimes the secret agent of the 
ministers of crowned heads. Every officer, however, of the 
conclave, takes an oath not to reveal any of its secrets. He 
must be shut up in a little corner of his master’s cell, and 
do every menial office for him. He must fetch his victuals 
and drink, which the cardinal’s officers give him from with¬ 
out twice every day, through an inlet that communicates to 
his cell; he waits on his master at table; keeps every thing 
very clean; and when he has done, serves himself. 

According to the order of Innocent III., there are three 
several methods of electing a pope, viz. by scrutiny , compro - 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


263 


•mist, and inspiration. The election by scru¬ 
tiny, which is the only way that has been used Different 
for a long while, contains all the formality that ™ oc ^ s elect - 
appears most essential for making the election a 
canonical. Still it is no more than a mere ceremony, as the 
several factions of the cardinals have united beforehand in the 
choice of the person. This harmony is brought about by the 
most refined and delicate strokes of policy, and for the most 
part comes on after their eminences have found out, by seve¬ 
ral scrutinies, the disposition of the sacred college. Then, if 
the votes for any of the candidates come near the number re¬ 
quired, it is a very common practice for the other factions to 
fall off and coalesce with the others, and thereby contribute to 
the pope’s election, fearing to draw on them his hatred by a 
fruitless and unseasonable opposition. 

The scrutiny consists in collecting and examining votes, 
given in by printed billets, which the cardinals put into a 
chalice that stands on the altar of the chapel, at 
which they have met to choose the pope. These Election by 
billets are prepared by the masters of the cere- scrutiny, 
monies, who put them into two golden basins, 
placed at each end of a long table, which stands on the side 
of the high altar. Each of these billets is a span or palm 
long, and half a span broad, and are divided into eight equal 
parts, by parallel lines taking up the whole length of each 
billet, as well on the inside as the out; that is, the reverse of 
the billet when rolled up. On the first space, rolled inward, 
these two words, “ Ego Cardinalis, v stand at a small distance 
from each other to make room for the proper name. The 
second is a blank, in which the cardinal writes his surname 
and titles. The third has two O’s at each end, for the cardi¬ 
nal’s seal, -which is generally made on purpose; for he never 
uses his coat of arms on this occasion. The fourth is filled 
up with “ Eligo ,” &c. The fifth is for the surname and titles 
of the cardinal proposed to be pope. The sixth is as the 
third. The seventh continues a blank, and the eighth is filled 
up with a motto, which the cardinal, whose name the billet 
bears, makes choice of out of the sacred scriptures. The 
reverse of each billet is divided likewise into eight equal 
parts, and almost all of them are filled up with flourishes, that 
the writing on the other side may not appear through. Before 
the scrutiny begins, little bills, having the names of all the 
cardinals on them, are put into a bag, with an intent to draw 
thence three scrutineers, three overseers of the sick, and three 
revisors. 


OQ4 ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

The cardinals use all the art imaginable to disguise their 
hands. They write what we have just mentioned on the scru¬ 
tiny billets ; or, if they have not skill enough to conceal their 
hands, they make use of an unknown hand, that it may 
not be known for whom they vote. These billets are wrapped 
up with all possible dexterity and address, that it may be a 
secret to whom they belong; after which they close them in 
their hands and take their places; and then the scrutiny be¬ 
gins in the following manner. Each cardinal takes the billet, 
thus written and folded up, between the thumb and the fore¬ 
finger of his right hand, and holding it up to the view of the 
other members of the sacred college, carries it to the high altar, 
kneeling down upon the first step, where he repeats an ejacu¬ 
latory prayer. He then goes up to the altar, and takes the 
oath aloud; after which he puts his billet upon the patten 
which covers the chalice, and from thence slides it into the 
chalice ; he then returns to his place. This office is perform¬ 
ed by the overseers of the sick for those cardinals who are in¬ 
disposed. They present the scrutiny billets to such cardinals, 
together with a box in the form of an urn, with a very small 
hole in it, at which the sick man puts in his billet. The bil¬ 
let cannot be got out again but by opening the box, which is 
carried to the chapel, opened before all the cardinals present, 
and then the billet is put into the chalice in the manner already 
described. 

Before the scrutiny begins, the sacristan, who is always an 
Augustine friar, says the mass of the Holy Ghost. The scruti¬ 
neers then stand near the great altar, to mix and open the billets 
in the chalice, and to see that the scrutiny proceeds in due form. 
The last scrutineer takes these billets one after another, and 
first showing them to the cardinals, puts them into another 
chalice. If there be a greater or less number of billets than 
there are cardinals, the scrutineer burns all he finds in the 
two chalices, and each cardinal makes a new one, till the 
scrutiny comes right. When the billets are equal to the num¬ 
ber of cardinals, the scrutiny is published in the following 
manner. The heads of the three orders of cardinals go up 
to the high altar, take the chalice in which the billets are 
put, carry it to the table before-mentioned, and then retire, and 
the three scrutineers come and seat themselves at the table, 
with their faces towards the cardinals. The first scrutineer 
turns the chalice upside down upon the table, opens each 
billet in the place where the vote is written, and looks upon 
the name of the cardinal who is therein voted for; and still, 
as he opens them, he puts them into the hands of the second 



Benediction of Bells, p.292. 



Consecration of an image, p.293 







































































































































































































































ROMAN CATHOLIC CIIUIICH. 


265 


scrutineer, who looks likewise on the name, and gives it to 
the third, who reads the name aloud. Meanwhile, the cardi¬ 
nals mark each name upon a sheet of paper, on which all 
their names are printed. Those who are named set down 
also the votes given them, to see if they have a sufficient 
number to be elected. This number must be at" least two 
thirds. 

The last scrutineer files all these billets, that none of them 
may be lost, and the file is kept in view till he has put it into 
a chalice set apart for that purpose. When the scrutiny is 
over, the billets are again told over, and three revisors exa¬ 
mine them. They are burned when the election has been 
approved as canonical. If the votes do not rise to a sufficient 
number, billets are taken in order to choose the pope by 
way of accessus; and there is scarcely ever a scrutiny with¬ 
out this accessus. The accessus is intended to correct the 
scrutiny. In this, they give their votes by other billets, on 
which is written, “ Accedo Domino ,” &c. when they join their 
vote to another’s; or, “ Accedo Nemini ,” when they adhere to 
their first vote. The accessus is performed in the same man¬ 
ner as the scrutiny, only they do not take the oath .again. 
The scrutineers examine the billets of the accessus, as they 
did those of the scrutiny, and the cardinals, after the same 
manner, set down the votes which are gained thereby to any 
of the candidates. 

After the revisors have very accurately examined the votes 
of the accessus, and find the election to be perfectly canonical, 
they send for three apostolical notaries into the chapel where 
the election was made, who, upon inspecting the billets and 
other pieces which the scrutineers and revisors lay before 
them, draw up a memorandum of the election. All the cardi¬ 
nals who have assisted at the conclave, sign and seal this 
record; after which, the. scrutineers burn all the billets, both 
of the scrutiny and the accessus, in presence of all the 
cardinals. 

The pope is elected by compromise , when the cardinals, 
disagreeing in their choice, engage by mutual compromise to 
refer the election to some particular cardinals . 

of probity, and to acknowledge him whom they Com ^^ ise y 
shall nominate as duly elected, by virtue of the 
power given to them for that purpose. The 
election by way of inspiration is in some measure riotous 
and tumultuary. A select number of cardinals of different 
factions, who have determined to put every thing to the last 
push, begin to cry out, “such a one is pope,’ as it were by 
23 


266 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


inspiration. Adoration is the same as inspiration, which is, 
when two thirds of the conclave, being agreed in the person, 
go in a body and adore and acknowledge the pope they ap¬ 
prove of, as head of the church. The elections by way of 
compromise , inspiration, and adoration, but seldom happen. 
The scrutiny and accessus are the methods generally ob¬ 
served. 

As soon as the pope is elected, it is customary for his 
domestics and the populace to plunder his cell in the con¬ 
clave, and the palace in which he resided. 

As soon as the pope is elected, the cardinals who are the 
heads of their respective orders, ask the consent of his holi¬ 
ness, and the name which he is determined to 
aid^°to^°the assume ’ alteration of his state. This al- 

Ipope elect. 1C teration of his name is perhaps the most singular 
act which takes place in the election of the su¬ 
preme pontiff Sergius the Fourth, who was before called 
“ Os Porci ,” that is, Swine!s face, was the first pope who 
thought proper to change his name on his exaltation to the 
pontificate; and this custom has been invariably followed by 
his successors. The elected pontiff’s new appellation being 
made known, the fisherman’s ring is immediately given him. 
After which, the masters of the ceremonies draw up a formal 
instrument of his declaration, and deliver in a duplicate of it 
to the college. The two first cardinal-deacons then conduct 
the new pope behind the altar, where, with the assistance of 
the masters of the ceremonies and the sacristan, (who is always 
an Augustine monk,) they take off his cardinal’s habit to put 
on the pontifical, which is a white taffeta cassoc ; a linen rochet; 
a carnail, and a cap, both of red satin; with shoes made of red 
cloth embroidered with gold, and a golden cross on the upper 
part. Thus pompously dressed, the pope is carried on his 
chair before the altar of the chapel appointed for the election, 
and there the cardinal-dean, first, and after him, the remainder 
of the cardinals, adore his holiness upon their knees, kissing 
his foot, and his right hand; after which the holy father 
takes them up, and gives them the salute of peace on the right 
cheek. After this, the first cardinal-deacon, preceded by the 
master of the ceremonies, who carries the cross, and by a choir 
of musicians who sing the anthem, Ecce sacerdos magnus, 
—Behold the high priest so acceptable to God, and so just —• 
goes to the great lodge of St. Peter, where the master mason 
takes care to have the door opened, that the cardinal may pass 
into the balcony, to acquaint the people with the pope’s elec¬ 
tion, crying with an audible voice, Annuntio vobis gavdium 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


267 

magnum, habemus pap am, <Spc .— I bring you glad tidings, 
we have a pope, fyc. Then one of the large culverins of St. 
Peter’s is discharged, to give the governor of the castle of St. 
Angelo notice to discharge all his artillery: all the bells of 
the city begin to ring at the same time, and the air resounds 
with the cheerful sound of drums, trumpets, and kettle drums. 

During the roar of the artillery, the sound of the bells, and 
the melody both of vocal and instrumental music, the Romans 
incessantly break out into solemn vows and loud acclama¬ 
tions for the new pope. The same day, about two hours be¬ 
fore night, the pope, having his cope and his mitre on, is carried 
and set upon the altar of Sixtus’s chapel, where the cardinals, 
in their purple copes, come, and a second time adore the new 
pontiff, who is sea'ted upon the relics of the altar stone. This 
adoration is celebrated in the same manner as the former, the 
musicians all the time singing anthems suitable to the solemn 
occasion. 

In the meantime, the inclosures of the conclave are broken, 
or taken down, and the cardinals, preceded by music, descend 
into the middle of St. Peter’s church. The pope follows them, 
carried in his pontifical chair under a red canopy embellished 
with gold fringe. His bearers now seat him on the great altar 
of St. Peter, where the cardinals pay their adoration to him a 
third time, and the foreign ambassadors after them, before a 
prodigious number of spectators, with whom this spacious 
church is generally crowded to the utmost extent of the very 
porch. Te Deum is then sung, and the cardinal-dean, who is 
on the epistle side, reads the verses and prayers, appointed for 
that purpose in the Roman ceremonial. After this, his holi¬ 
ness is set down on the highest step of the altar. A cardinal- 
dean takes off his mitre, and then he solemnly blesses the peo¬ 
ple. His pontificalia are then taken off and twelve chair¬ 
men, in long scarlet cloaks hangingdown to the ground, place 
him in his chair, and convey him on their shoulders into his 
apartment. 

Stephen II. is said to be the first pope who was carried on 
men’s shoulders after his election: but, as we know that the 
illustrious men of Rome were carried on litters by their slaves, 
we may conclude that this custom is merely a remnant of the 
habits of the ancient Romans. 

In regard to the kissing of the feet of his holiness, it is 
doubtless a very ancient custom. Baronius gives an instance 
of it in the year 204, and it appears that after that time, the 
Emperor Justin I., Pepin, king of France, Frederic Barbarossa, 
and others, all kissed the pope’s feet, The time, however, 


263 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


when this custom became constantly practised is not exactly 
known ; although we may justly suspect, that it was only the 
same mark of respect which was formerly paid to the ancient 
Roman emperors, who were, at the same time, the supreme 
pontiffs of the religion of the Romans, and the sovereigns of the 
state. Though this ceremony be considered, in the opinion 
of the vulgar, as an instance of the veneration and esteem 
which Christians entertain for the pope, it will appear upon 
the whole, that it is to Jesus Christ alone. For we are to 
observe, that the pope’s slipper has a cross upon it, which is 
the emblem of Christ crucified. The successors of St. Peter 
have invariably ordered that their sandals should have this 
cross on the upper-leathers: so that it is not the feet of his 
holiness, but the cross of Jesus Christ crucified, that is kiss¬ 
ed. Faithful Catholics affirm that the pontiff’s feet ought to 
be kissed after the same manner, and with the same respect, 
as the cross and other holy images are kissed. 

The pope being the head of the Catholic or universal 
Church, wears the keys as a sign of the power with which he 

The , is invested, to open the gates of heaven to all true 
Coronation. believers; and the triple crown to instruct and 
inform the Christian world, that he is both high- 
priest, emperor, and king. 

The preparations for his coronation are in no degree in¬ 
ferior to those of the most august princes of the universe. If 
he be a deacon only, the cardinal-dean, after his election, con¬ 
stitutes him both priest and bishop in Sextus’s chapel, 'to 
which, on the day of his coronation, he repairs in his car¬ 
dinal’s habit; that is, the white cassoc, the rochet, the short 
mantle, or cope of red satin, and the red capuch, supported by 
two prelates, who are the gentlemen of his bed-chamber and 
his cup-bearer, who are dressed in a red cope, with a capuch 
lined with red tafleta. The pages of the privy chamber, and 
the pages cf honour, also the chaplain’s to the pope, who walk 
with his holiness, are preceded by those who are called the 
pages extra muros , (that is, without the walls,) and the squires 
of the deceased pope. The ambassadors, the genei'al of the 
church, the princes of the throne, the governor of Rome, the 
captains of the light horse, of the Swiss, and the ancepe- 
sados, all make their appearance, and assist at this ceremony, 
as well as the cardinals, who are clothed in red, that is, in 
their cassocs, rochets, their copes of red satin, which the 
Romans call mozette , and their red calottes on their heads. 
The procession having arrived at Sextus’s chapel, the cardi¬ 
nals, at the entrance, put on their red copes. Two cardinal- 



The adoration of the Pope before the grand altar of St. Peter, p. 427 












































































































































































































































































ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


269 


deacons now give the pope his pontificalia; the ceremony of 
which is as follows:—the first master of the ceremonies girds 
on the falda of taffeta under the rochet, and puts upon his head 
the red satin berretta. His holiness then goes into the chapel; 
where the cardinals rise up, and at his first appearance make 
him a most profound bow, the holy father receiving the 
submission of his spiritual children like an indulgent parent. 
The gentlemen who attend on their eminences, are at this time 
on their knees, and his holiness stands with his back against 
the altar. Afterwards, one of the two cardinal-deacons takes 
off his berretta , and his companion puts on another of white 
taffeta: they likewise take off his red mozette , and dress him in 
the amict, the albe, the girdle, the stole, and the red chasuble, 
embroidered all over with gold. The first cardinal-deacon 
now puts the mitre upon his head, whilst the master of the 
ceremonies sings the extra with an audible voice. After this, 
one of the apostolic sub-deacons takes up the cross that is car¬ 
ried before the pope; and the cardinals pull off their berrettas 
in honour of the sacred wood. 

The cross is carried in the following order: the pope’s 
gentlemen go before it two by two, followed by the courtiers of 
the new successor of St. Peter, dressed in their ceremonial 
habits. The pages extra muros march next, and after them 
the consistorial advocates, the gentlemen of the privy chamber, 
the referendary prelates; the bishops, archbishops, and pa¬ 
triarchs, and then the pope’s chaplains, who carry the triple 
crown and the mitre. The cross comes after these chaplains, 
and is followed by the cardinal-deacons two and two abreast 
and they are followed by the cardinals, priests, and bishops, in 
the same order. Their eminences are followed by the Roman 
conservators, the caporions, &c. The holy father is carried 
to church on a chair in the midst of this solemn procession, 
surrounded by his guards, and an infinite number of people. 
The knights of St. Peter and St. Paul support the canopy 
under which his holiness is carried; and in this order, the 
procession proceeds to St. Peter’s church. 

Under the portico of St.' Peter, near the holy gate, a throne 
is erected for the pope, where he sits under a canopy ; around 
which benches are railed in for the cardinals. The canons, 
and all those who enjoy any benefice in St. Peters, with their 
cardinal high-priest at the head of them, now come and kiss 
the feet of the hoty father. After which, he is carried to 
the foot of the high altar, attended by a number of people 
making loud acclamations: he then kneels down and prays 
bareheaded before the holy sacrament; and is immediately 
23 # 


270 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


carried from thence to the Gregorian chapel. There he seats 
himself on a throne, surrounded by the foreign ambassadors, 
the princes of the throne, and other persons of rank and dis¬ 
tinction. The cardinals in their red copes, the prelates, &c.. 
then pay their homage to him ; the former kissing his hand, 
and the others his knee. His holiness then gives the people 
his benediction; and they return him their thanks by extra¬ 
ordinary acclamations, and other testimonies of general joy. 

This ceremony being concluded, the cardinals, bishops, and 
other prelates, put on their white robes, whilst the canons of 
St. Peter sing an anthem in the choir. The pope washes his 
hands four times. The first time, the water is presented him 
by the first Roman conservator; the second in time of mass, 
by the general of the Church; the third by the ambassador 
of the most Christian king; and the last, by the ambassador 
of his Imperial Majesty. They are, if present at the solem 
nity, indispensably obliged to the performance of this religious 
duty, as a proof of their submission to the holy See. 

The holy father in the next place is undressed, in order 
to put on other robes, the colour of which is a type or symbol 
of his purity and innocence. The acolytes present these new 
vestments to the cardinal-deacon, who clothes his holiness in 
a white garment; in order that, according to the language of 
scripture, he may be fitted to preside in the temple of the 
Lord. The dress of his holiness now consists of the cassco, 
amict, albe, girdle, dalmatica, stole, gloves, and mitre, em¬ 
broidered with gold, and set with jewels. The procession is 
then resumed, during which, the first master of the ceremo¬ 
nies carries a lighted wax taper in one hand, and a basin in the 
other, in which the pomps and vanities of this world are 
exhibited to the holy father, under the representation of 
castles and palaces made of flax, to which the master of the 
ceremonies sets fire three successive times, saying to his holi- 
ness each time, Pater Sancte , sic transit gloria mundi! 
Behold., holy father, hoiv the glory of this world p )asses 
away !—This ceremony seems to owe its birth to that which 
was practised at the coronation of the Greek emperors; for, 
in the midst of all the pomp and splendour of their coronation, 
they were on one hand presented with a vase filled with ashes 
and dead men’s bones, and on the other with flax, which was 
set on fire; by this double emblem reminding them of their 
mortality, and of the fate of their worldly honours. 

The whole procession having arrived at the foot of the 
altar, on which stand seven large silver gilt candlesticks 
with large lighted wax-tapers in them, similar to those which 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


271 


are carried by the seven acolytes before the cross, the pope 
makes a short prayer on a desk, and then rising, begins the 
Iniroibo of the mass, having the cardinal-dean on his right 
hand, as assistant-bishop in his cope; and the cardinal-deacon 
of the gospel on his left, and behind him two cardinal-deacons 
assistants. 

After his holiness has made the solemn confession, the 
dean of the rota, who holds his mitre, gives it to the two cardi¬ 
nal-deacons assistants, to set it upon his head. His holiness, 
in the next place, sits down on his throne, before which each 
of the three first cardinal priests reads a prayer for his coro¬ 
nation. After which, the holy father descends from the 
throne, his mitre is taken off, and the first cardinal-deacon, 
assisted by the second, dresses him in the pallium, saying to 
him, Receive the pallium viliich represents to you the duties 
and perfections of the pontifical function: may you discharge, 
it to the glory of God , and of his most Holy Mother the blessed 
Virgin Mary; of the blessed apostles St. Peter and St. Paul; 
and of the holy Roman Church. 

The cardinal-deacon of the gospel having put three dia¬ 
mond buttons on the three crosses of the pallium, the holy 
father ascends the altar, with the pallium on his shoulders, 
but without his mitre, kisses the book of the holy evangelist, 
puts incense into the thurible, and thurifies or perfumes the 
altar. After this, the mitre is again set on his holiness s 
head, and the first cardinal-deacon thurifies him three times 
successively. The ceremony closes with a salute, which that 
cardinal gives him on his left cheek and his stomach, which 
ceremony is also performed by the other two cardinals. 

This ceremony being over, the pope returns to his throne, 
whither all the cardinals repair, and after taking off their 
mitres, pay him their adorations. All the clergy come like¬ 
wise, and adore him, each according to his quality, and all in 
their ceremonial habits. The patriarchs, archbishops, and bi¬ 
shops, kiss his foot and his knee; the abbots and penitenti¬ 
aries of St. Peter, his knee only. 

Afterwards, the pope rises, lays down his mitre, ascends the 
altar, sings or reads the Introite and the Kyrie , fyc. sings the 
Gloria in Excelsis with an audible voice, and, as soon as the 
prayer of mass is said, resumes his place. Then the first 
cardinal-deacon descends into the confessional of St. Peter, 
which is a place under the altar, where the relics of the mar¬ 
tyrs lie, attended by the apostolical sub-deacons, the auditors 
of the rota, the consistorial advocates, &c. who walk in two 
ranks, with their white copes, and their purple amices over 




272 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


them. The cardinal-deacon sings there with a low voice, the 
Exaudi Chrisle! {Hear, 0 Christ!) to which the clergy 
who follow him answer, Domino nostro a Deo decreto summo 
Pontifici et Papce, tj’c. (Our lord , the Pope, sovereign Pontiff, 
instituted and ordained by God, dye.) The Exaudi, tyc. are 
three times repeated as well as the Salvator, Mundi, which is 
afterwards added by the same cardinal, and to which the cler¬ 
gy answer, Tu ilium adjuva, —that is, O Saviour of the world 
assist him ! Then follow" the litanies of the saints. The Latin 
epistle follows those litanies, and the Greek after the Latin ; 
the one is sung by the Greek sub-deacon, and the ether by the 
Latin. The musicians in the choir now sing the gradual; a 
cardinal-deacon sings the gospel in Latin, another the same in 
Greek, and the mass closes w r ith some particular ceremonies. 
As soon as mass is over, the holy father goes into his chair 
again, without pulling off those robes which he had w r orn du¬ 
ring the celebration of it. Then the cardinal-arch-priest of 
St. Peter, attended by two canons, presents the pope with a 
w’hite damask purse, in w r hich are twenty-five Julios, old Ro¬ 
man money. The chapter and canons of St. Peter make him 
this present as a testimony that he has sung mass well. This 
money the holy father gives to the cardinal-deacons, who sang 
the two gospels, and they bestow" it on their train-bearers. 

To conclude, the pope is carried to the benediction-pewq 
accompanied by his cardinals and prelates. The canopy un¬ 
der wdaich he is carried, is supported by the Roman conser¬ 
vators and the caparions ; two of the grooms, in red liveries, 
carrying fans of peacocks’ feathers on each side of the chair. 
The cardinals and prelates all stand, whilst the tw r o first car¬ 
dinal-deacons, in quality of assistants, help his holiness to as-, 
cend the throne, which is always set up by the sacred college, 
on the preceding day, in the middle of the pew. As soon as 
the pope is seated, the choir sing the anthem, Corona aurea 
super caput, dye. —that is, A crown of gold shall be on his 
head, dye. w r ith the responses ; after which the dean reads the 
coronation prayer. The second cardinal-deacon now' takes off 
the mitre of his holiness, and the first puts the triple crowm 
on his head, saying, Receive this tiara embellished with three 
crowns, and never forget, when you have it on, that you are the 
father of princes and kings, the supreme judge of the universe, 
and on the earth, Vicar of Jesus Christ our Lord and Sa¬ 
viour. 

Immediately after being crowned, the pope blesses the peo¬ 
ple three times, and two cardinals publish a plenary indul¬ 
gence both in Latin and Italian. After this, his holiness w-ith- 




ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 273 

draws to his apartment in the Vatican, and on his way through 
Sixtus’s chapel, the cardinal-deacons take off his pontificalia. 
The first cardinal-priest, in the name of the whole sacred col¬ 
lege, now makes him the compliment ad multos annos, that is, 
wishes he may enjoy his pontificate for many years. 

The pope holds consistories when he receives princes, or 
their ambassadors; when he canonizes any saint, or promotes 
cardinals; or treats of any important affair, ei- Ceremonies 
ther civil or ecclesiastical. When a consistory observed when 
is to be held, the pope’s throne is erected in the a pope holds 
great hall of the apostolic palace. This throne acons i stor y* 
is almost square, and about twelve palms, or six feet, wide, to 
which he ascends by three steps. His holiness sits down on 
a seat adorned with cloth of gold, under a canopy of the same; 
both equal to each other in point of magnificence: the foot of 
the throne is covered with red cloth. The cardinal-bislfops 
and priests sit on his right hand, below the throne; the dea¬ 
cons on his left; but in such a position as to have their faces 
towards the holy father. Between the seats of the cardinal- 
bishops and priests, and those of the deacons, there is a consi¬ 
derable space left for the people to pass and repass. 

When his holiness goes to hold a public consistory, he 
walks with the mitre on his head, and is dressed in his amict, 
albe, stole, and red chasuble, the cross and cardinals prece¬ 
ding him. The procession having arrived at the consistory 
chamber, the holy father takes his place, and then the cardi¬ 
nals, having first made him a profound obeisance, repair to 
their respective seats. The archbishops, bishops, prothonota- 
ries, and other prelates, sit on the steps of the throne ; the 
sub-deacons, auditors, clerks of the chamber, and acolytes, 
with their woollen copes, on the lowest step; and the 
ecclesiastical officers of the pope’s court on the ground, be¬ 
tween the cardinal seats. The pages of the chamber, and 
the secretaries, sit also on the ground, between the prelates 
and ecclesiastical officers. The nephews of the reigning pope, 
in case he has any, and some other Roman princes, sit on each 
side of the throne, and are for that reason called Princes of 
the Throne. Ambassadors, and other foreign ministers, are 
seated on the right-hand of the throne, between the steps and 
the wall, which is the place for the highest nobility : the other 
gentlemen are on the left, among the pope’s domestic officers: 
the consistorial advocates sit behind the cardinal-deacons, and 
the proctors of princes, with the fiscal proctor, who takes 
place of the other proctors, behind the cardinal-bishops. The 
entrance of the passage leading to the throne is filled up by 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


274 


the pope’s guard. The master of the Sacro Hospitio stands 
between the guard, and the bottom of the rank of cardinal- 
priests. The clerks of the ceremonies are at the head of the 
chief of the deacons, for the greater convenience of executing 
the pope’s orders. When the pope holds a consistory for ju¬ 
dicial causes, each advocate, who has any motion to make, 
stands behind the cardinal-priests, opposite to the pope; and 
having opened his cause, he throws his petition to the ecclesi¬ 
astical officers, who take and present it to the vice-chancellor. 
Lastly, when the consistory is concluded, the two eldest cardi¬ 
nal-deacons come forward to support the pope, and then the 
whole assembly return in the same order as they came. 

Private consistories have not so many ceremonies, and are 
held in some private apartment, at a distance from the sacred 
palace. There are no steps to the pontifical seat, 
histories 6 C ° n ~ on ly a kind °P en bench, without an alcove, and 
another of a smaller size, which serves as a foot¬ 
stool to ascend to the largest one. Each of the cardinal- 
bishops and priests is seated according to his rank ; the eldest 
cardinal sits next the pope, on his right hand, and the eldest 
cardinal-deacon next him on his left. There are benches 
before their seats, on which their eminences .set their feet; 
and the assembly is so ranged or disposed, that the last car¬ 
dinal-deacon is next the last cardinal-priest, who has a bell 
in his hand, to call the attendants in waiting to receive 
their orders. The pope’s seat is covered with red cloth; but 
those of the cardinals are only painted in that colour, and 
have the pope’s arms upon them. The space which lies be¬ 
tween his holiness and their eminences, is covered with a large 
carpet. When this ecclesiastical senate has any state affairs, or 
any matters relating to the Church, under deliberation, every 
body but the cardinals goes out, and when they come to give 
their votes, they are obliged to do it standing and bareheaded. 

The service of the Catholic Church consists of prayers 
and holy lessons, which the Church has appointed to be read 
Canonical every day by the clergy, at particular hours, 
hours for di- This service is called the canonical hours , be- 
vme service. cause ft was ordained by the canons of the 
Church, which not only prescribed the hours in which it is to 
be said, but likewise every particular circumstance which 
bears any relation to it. These circumstances, however, are 
not absolutely the same in all churches. This office, or order 
of divine service, is likewise called the breviary , by a modern 
term, which some are of opinion was not introduced till after 
its abridgment; for it was tnuch longer formerly than at present. 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. * 


275 


There are instances of canonical hours to be met with in 
the Hebrew Scriptures. The matins in Psalm cxviii., or 
according to the Hebrew , cxix.; prime, in Psalm xcii.; tierce, 
in Acts , chap. ii.; sexte, in chap. x. of the same book; none, 
in chap. iii.; and vespers, in our Lord’s last supper. The 
Heathens had likewise their matins; and the Egyptians 
saluted their gods every morning: they had their primes, 
seconds , and tierces, which the Catholics call prime, tierce, 
sexte, &c, 

The clergy being ordained and established for the edifica¬ 
tion of Christians, their first obligation is constantly to repeat 
their breviary, that is, to pray'to God for the Church, to sing 
the divine office with devotion, to maintain a taste for piety 
in Christian souls, and to administer ghostly comfort and con¬ 
solation to the respective flocks intrusted to their care. 

The divine service, or office, is to be said in a standing pos¬ 
ture, pursuant to the ancient custom of the Church, and upon 
the knees on days of penance only. It is said by those who 
treat on Church ceremonies, that genuflection is a mark of 
sorrow and contrition; but standing is not only a type of joy, 
and of raising the mind with cheerfulness to God, but of the 
Resurrection too, which is the object of the Christian faith. 

The divine service consists of seven hours, if matins and 
lauds be reckoned as one service, but eight, in case they be 
divided. In the primitive ages of the Church, it w T as compo¬ 
sed but of six parts, which were tierce, sexte, and none, for 
the day; and for night, the evening, midnight, and morning 
prayers. At present they are divided into seven or eight: 
matins for night; lauds for the morning; prime, tierce, sexte, 
none, for the day; vespers for the evening; and complin for 
the beginning of the night. Certain writers on ceremonies, 
likewise insist that matins represent the occurrences of the 
passion-night; that lauds are appointed to commemorate 
Christ’s resurrection; prime,to contemplate the ignominious 
treatment which he met with at the house of Caiaphas, and to 
humble ourselves at the sight of those indignities and affronts: 
that tierce is principally designed to return God thanks for the 
sanctification of his Church by the Holy Ghost; sexte, to 
honour the crucifixion of our Lord; and none, to bring to our 
remembrance' the mystery of his death, which happened at 
that hour ; that vespers were ordained to commemorate his 
coming, •which, according to a hymn of the Church, was to • 
wards the Night of the World; and the hour of complin, to 
implore the protection of the Almighty during the night, in 
the same manner as had been done at prime for the day. The 



276 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


proper hour for saying matins is the night; but lauds, which 
are now, as it were, incorporated into matins, were formerly 
said at break of day. Both these offices being called, with¬ 
out distinction matins, are now said towards the close of the 
night. The hour of saying prime, is directly after sun-rise, 
for which reason it is called prime, because the ancients be¬ 
gan their day at that time, and divided it into twelve hours, 
which were unequal, as the days were longer or shorter; and 
by the same rule tierce is fixed at the third hour of the day, 
and answers to nine o’clock at the Equinoxes; sexte at the 
sixth, which is always noon; none, at the ninth hour, or about 
three o’clock in the afternoon; vespers, towards the evening; 
and complin, after sun-set. Due care is generally taken that 
these services are all carefully performed at, or very near, the 
appointed times here specified. 

During Lent, however, vespers are said before dinner, on 
account of those who cannot keep fast according to the pre¬ 
scription of the Church, till the usual hour of vespers. In 
winter, that is, from All-Saints to Easter, vespers are sung at 
two o’clock, and the rest of the year at three. After vespers, 
the curates or vicars ought to catechize youths, unless it has 
been already done at mass, after the prone, or sermon. The 
evening prayer follows. 

Not only those ecclesiastics who are in holy orders, but 
every nun and friar likewise, who has entered into solemn 
vows, and all who hold benefices, are under an obligation to 
perform this service; insomuch, that whoever neglects this 
duty is reckoned to be guilty of a mortal sin, and is consider¬ 
ed liable to restore the revenues of his benefice. 

The Catholics look upon the sacrifice of the mass as the 
most acceptable of all adorations, and the most effectual of all 

reremonies P ra y ers - Th e Church not only prays herself at 
of the mass. this sacrifice, which the priest offers up to God 

in the most solemn and majestic manner; but 
Jesus Christ also, by the sacrifice of his own body, is said to 
offer up to his Father the most perfect adoration that can pos¬ 
sibly be paid to him, since it is offered by a God. In short, 
it is Jesus Christ, who alone, and always, acts in this sacrifice. 
The priest is but his minister, his instrument, his terrestrial 
organ; it is Christ who leads and directs him, and makes the 
action of the priest effectual, who offers him as propitiation for 
the sins of men; however corrupt, therefore, the priest may be 
in his morals, it is held that the sacrifice is equally salutary to 
the church, a tenet which redounds considerably to the im¬ 
maculate character of the holy Roman Catholic Church. 








The Confiteor 


Priest kisses the altar, p. 277 






































































































































































































































































Priest at the Epistle. 


The Introite. p. 277. 



Kyrie Eleyson. 


Dominas vobiscam. p. 278. 












































































































































































































































































































































ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


277 


The holy-water is made on Sundays, before high mass, after 
which follows a procession. The faithful (for by this term the 
Catholics generally distinguish themselves) ought to be present 
at mass with a conscience avoid of offence; and in order to 
show them the necessity of such internal purity, they are sprink¬ 
led with a water sanctified for that purpose by a solemn bene¬ 
diction. The procession is a preparation of the hearts of the 
congregation, for the holy sacrifice of the mass ; and the priest 
and clergy make this preparation by their spiritual hymns and 
the elevation of the cross, which is carried before the clergy, 
whilst they move in a solemn manner round the church, or 
the places adjacent to it. 

The mass consists of two principal parts, viz. the first from 
the beginning to the offering, which was formerly called the 
Mass of the Catechumens; and the second , from the offering 
to the conclusion, called the Mass of the Faithful. Every 
person, without any distinction, was required to be present at 
it, till the offering; because, in this first part, the lessons from 
scripture, and the preaching of the Gospel, were included, 
from which none were to be excluded. But after the sermon, 
none were permitted to have a share in the sacrifice, but those 
of the faithful who were duly qualified to partake of it; the 
catechumens were ordered to depart, and the penitents were 
not only shut out and kept from the communion, but even from 
the sight of the mysteries; for which reason the deacon cried 
out, Holy things are for such as are holy ; let the profane de¬ 
part hence ! 

The various actions of the priest at mass, may be included 
under thirty-five distinct heads ; and devotion has discovered 
in all his actions a complete allegory of the pas- A . of 
sion of Jesus Christ. These several actions t]ie priest at 
are briefly as follows: —1. The priest goes to mass, 
the altar, in allusion to our Lord’s retreat with 
his apostles to the Garden of Olives. 2. Before he begins 
mass, he says a preparatory prayer. The priest is then to 
look on himself as one abandoned of God, and driven out of 
Paradise for the sin of Adam. 3. The priest makes confes¬ 
sion for himself, and for the people, in which it is required 
that he be free from mortal and from venial sin. 4. The priest 
kisses the altar, as a token of our reconciliation with God, and 
our Lord’s being betrayed by a kiss. 5. The priest goes to 
the epistle side of the altar, and thurifies or perfumes it. Jesus 
Christ is now supposed to be taken and bound. 6. The In- 
troite , said or sung, i. e. a psalm or hymn, applicable to the 
circumstance of our Lord’s being- carried before Caiaphas the 
24 


278 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


high-priest. 7. The priest says the Kyrie Eltison , which 
signifies, Lord have mercy upon us, three times, in allusion 
to Peter’s denying our Lord thrice. 8. The priest, turning 
towards the altar, says, Dominus vobiscuin, i. e. The Lord be 
with you; the people return this salutation, cum Spiritu luo f 
and with thy Spirit, Jesus Christ looking at Peter. 9. The 
priest reads the epistle relating to Jesus being accused before 
Pilate. 10. The priest bowing before the altar, says Munda 
cor , i. e. cleanse our hearts The gradual is sung. This 
psalm is varied according as it is the time of Lent or not. The 
devotion is now directed to our Saviour’s being accused be¬ 
fore Herod, and making no reply. 11. The priest reads the 
gospel wherein Jesus Christ is sent from Herod to Pilate. 
The gospel is carried from the right side of the altar to the 
left, to denote the tender of the gospel to the Gentiles, after re¬ 
fusal by the Jews. 12. The priest uncovers the chalice, 
hereby to represent our Lord was stripped in order to be 
scourged. 13. The oblation to the host, the creed is sung by 
the congregation. The priest then kisses the altar, then the 
priest offers up the host, which is to represent or import the 
scourging of Jesus Christ, which was introductory to his other 
sufferings. 14. The priest elevates the chalice, then covers 
it. Here Jesus being crowned with thorns is supposed to be 
figured to the mind, showing that he was going to be elevated 
a victim ; and it is well known the victims of the Pagans 
were crowned before they were sacrificed to their idols. 15. 
The priest washes his fingers, as Pilate washed his hands, 
and declares Jesus innocent, blesses the bread and the wine, 
blesses the frankincense, and perfumes the bread and wine, 
praying that the smell of this sacrifice may be more accept¬ 
able to him than the smoke of victims. 16. The priest turn¬ 
ing to the people, says, Cor emus Fratres , i. e. let us pray. 
He then bows himself to the altar, addresses himself to the 
Trinity, and prays in a very low voice. This is one of the 
secretums of the mass, and the imagination of the devout 
Christian is to find out the conformity between this and Christ 
being clothed with a purple robe: but we shall be cautious 
of adding more on this head, that we may not lose ourselves 
in the boundless ocean of allusions. 17. The priest says the 
preface at the close of the Secretum. This part of the mass is 
in affinity to Jesus Christ being crucified. The priest uses a 
prayer to God the Father, which is followed by the Sanctus , 
holy, holy, holy is the Lord, &c. which the people sing. 18. 
The priest joining his hands prays for the faithful that are 
living. This is said to be in allusion to Jesus Christ bearing 


1 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 279 

the cross to die upon, that we might live. 19. The priest 
covers with a cloth the host and chalice, St. Veronica offering 
her handkerchief to Jesus Christ. 20. The priest makes the 
sign of the cross upon the host and chalice, to signify that 
Jesus Christ is nailed to the cross. 21. The priest adores the 
host before elevated, and then he raises it up, in the best man¬ 
ner to represent our Saviour lifted up upon the cross. He re¬ 
peats the Lord’s prayer, with his arms extended, that his body 
might represent the figure of a cross, which is the ensign of 
Christianity. 22. The priest likewise consecrates the chalice, 
and elevates it, to represent the blood of Jesus Christ shed 
upon the cross. 23. The priest says the Memento for the 
faithful that are in purgatory. This prayer is in allusion to 
that which our Lord made for his enemies; but this allusion 
would be forced and unnatural, unless the devotees looked 
upon themselves as his enemies. 24. The priest then raises 
his voice, smiting his breast, begs God’s blessing on himself 
and congregation, for the sake of such saints as he enumerates, 
and implores the divine Majesty for a place in paradise, to 
imitate the thief upon the cross. 25. The priest elevates the 
host and cup, and says the per omnia, then the Lord’s prayer. 
The sign of the cross, which he makes on the host, the cha¬ 
nce, and the altar, is to represent to God that bleeding sacri¬ 
fice which his Son offered up to him of himself; then the de¬ 
vout Christian becomes the child of God, and all this is an 
allusion to the Virgin Mary’s being bid to look on St. John 
as her son. 26. After the Lord’s prayer the priest says a 
private one to God, to procure his peace by the mediation of 
the Virgin Mary and the saints, then puts the sacred host upon 
the paten, and breaks it, to represent Jesus Christ giving up 
the ghost. 27. The priest puts a little bit of the host into the 
chalice. The true Christian is now with an eye of faith to 
behold Jesus Christ descending into Limbo , i. e. hell. 28. 
Then the priest says, and the -people sing, Agnus Dei , &c. 
thrice over, and the priest smites his breast. This action is 
an allusion to those who, having seen our Lord’s sufferings, 
returned home smiting their breasts. 29. After the Agnus 
Dei is sung, the priest says a private prayer for the peace of 
the church. He then kisses the altar, and the instrument of 
peace called the paxis, which being received at his hands by 
the deacon, it is handed about to the people to be kissed, and 
passed from each other with these words, peace be with you; 
and whilst the paxis is kissing, the priest prepares himself for 
the communion by two other prayers, when he adores the 
host, and then says, with a low voice, I will eat of the celestial 


280 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


bread; and smiting' his breast, says, I am not worthy that 
thou shouldest enter into my house , three times, after eating of 
the bread. He uncovers the chalice, repeating verse i. of the 
115th psalm, according to the Vulgate. When the priest has 
received the communion, he administers it to the people. The 
application of these ceremonies is to the death and burial of 
Jesus Christ, and his descent into hell. 30. After this, the 
priest putting the wine into the chalice, in order to take what 
is called the ablution, repeats a short prayer; then he causes 
wine and water to be poured out for the second ablution, ac¬ 
companied with another short prayer, and then salutes the 
congregation. These ablutions allegorically represent the 
washing and embalming the body of Jesus Christ, &c. 31. 

The priest sings the post communion or prayer for n good 
effect of the sacrament then received, expressed by the glorious 
resurrection of the regenerate Christians, and is to be looked 
lipon as the representation of our Lord’s resurrection. 32. 
The priest, turning to the people, says, T)ominus vobiscum , 
salutes the congregation, as the ambassador of Christ, with 
the message of peace. 33. The priest reads the beginning of 
St. John’s gospel, and particularly of Jesus’s appearing to his 
mother and disciples, and uses some short prayers. 34. The 
priest dismisses the people with these words, Ite missa est , de¬ 
part, the mass is concluded, to which they answer, God be 
thanked. This, they say, points to the ascension of Jesus 
Christ, where he receives the eternal reward of that sacrifice, * 
both as priest and victim. 35. The people receive the bene¬ 
diction of the priest or bishop, if he is present, to represent the 
blessings promised and poured down upon the apostles bv the 
Holy Ghost, 

This benediction must be given after kissing, with eyes 
erected to heaven, and arms stretched out, and then gently 
brought back to the stomach, that the hands may join in an 
affectionate manner for the congregation of the faithful. 

The extension of the arms and the joining of the hands are 
both mysterious, and show the charity with which the priest 
calls his spiritual brethren to God. 

When he pronounces the benediction he must lean in an 
engaging posture towards the altar. 

TT . , Masses among the Catholics are exceedingly - 

High or -l . t v i . r i . 9 J - 

solemn Mass. numerou s; but our limits admit of a description 

of but two—high or solemn mass and the mass 

for the dead. 

When there is to be a solemn mass, if it be a bishop who offi¬ 
ciates, he is attended to church by the canons and other officers 








The last prayer. The Dismission, p. 280. 



Mass of the Holy Ghost, p. 280 































































































ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


281 


of the church, who go and wait upon him in state at his palace ; 
but if it happens to be too far distant from the church, the whole 
chapter, who wait at the church-gate, advance to meet him as 
soon as his lordship appears in sight, and when he draws near 
to the church, the bells are rung to give the people notice of 
it, and the moment he sets his foot within the church, the 
organ begins to play. The master of the ceremonies now 
gives the sprinkler to the head canon, who presents it to the 
bishop, after he has kissed both that, and his sacred hand. His 
lordship first sprinkles himself, and then the canons, with it, 
in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and then 
proceeds to say a prayer at a desk prepared for that particular 
purpose, before the altar, on which stands the Holy Sacra¬ 
ment. He performs the same ceremony at the high altar; 
and thence he ^withdraws into the vestry, and there puts on 
such ornaments as are suitable to the solemnity of the mass, 
in the following manner. 

The sub-deacon goes to a little closet contiguous to the altar, 
and takes from it the episcopal sandals and stockings, which 
he elevates and presents to the bishop. Then he kneels 
down, takes off his lordship’s shoes and stockings; the 
bishop, meanwhile, is in the midst of seven or eight acolytes, 
all upon their knees, and dressed in their robes, who, as well 
as the deacon, spread the prelate’s robes, in order that nothing 
indelicate may be discerned in putting on his stockings. Two 
acolytes, after they have washed their hands, now take the 
sacred habiliments, hold them up, and give them to the two 
deacon-assistants, to put upon the bishop, as soon as he has 
washed his hands. The deacon salutes the bishop, takes off 
his upper garment, and puts on his amict, the cross of which 
he kisses ; then they give him the albe, the girdle, the cross 
for his breast, the stole, and the pluvial. He kisses the cross 
that is upon each of them, one after another, and thereby testi¬ 
fies the extraordinary veneration which he has, or ought to 
have, for the cross of Christ. The deacon-assistants likewise 
most devoutly kiss those sacred vestments. As soon as the 
bishop is seated, they put his mitre on, and a priest presents 
him with the pastoral ring. The deacon then gives him his 
right glove, and the sub-deacon his left, which each of them 
kiss, as also the hand they have the honour to serve. Ejacu¬ 
latory prayers have been adapted to each individual piece of 
the episcopal robes, and the devotion of this ceremony is sup¬ 
ported and confirmed by singing the office of tierce. 

According to Casalius and others, there is some mystery in 
each of the bishop’s ornaments: the stole represents the yoke 
24* 


282 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CIIURCH. 


of the gospel; the bishop’s shoes are taken off by virtue of 
what God said to Moses, Put off thy shoes from off thy feet , 
&c. ; the dalmatica, which is in the form of a cross, intimates 
to the deacon, that he must be crucified to the world; the albe 
represents the purity of the priest’s soul; the pastoral ring 
points out the bishop’s spiritual marriage with the church ; his 
gloves signify that he is to be insensible of his good works, or 
that he must direct them to a spiritual end ; the girdle, that 
he is to be girded with justice and virtue; the sandals, that he 
ought from thenceforth to walk in the paths of the Lord ; the 
two horns of the mitre represent the Old and New Testa¬ 
ment; the shepherd’s crook, his correction and paternal au¬ 
thority. The 'pluvial , which, in former times was a dress for 
travelling and fatigue, from whence it manifestly took its 
name, signifying a protection against rain and storms, shows 
the miseries of this life, which is ever exposed to temptations 
and human infirmities. 

The bishop being dressed in all his habiliments, his clergy 
range themselves round about him. Two deacons, who are 
canons, place themselves on each side of him, both in their 
dalmaticas; and after them a deacon, and a sub-deacon. The 
incense-bearer appears with the censer, and a priest with the 
navet, out of which the bishop takes incense, puts it into the 
censer, and gives it his benediction. After this he kisses the 
cross, which is upon the.vestry-altar, and goes in procession 
to the other altar, where he is to celebrate mass. The incense- 
bearer walks at the head of the procession; two wax-candle 
bearers, with lighted tapers in their hands, march next, on 
each side of him who bears the cross: all the clergy follow 
them. The sub-deacon who is to sing the epistle, carries be¬ 
fore his breast, the book of the New Testament, which is shut, 
and in which is the bishop’s maniple. A deacon and a priest, 
with their pluvials on, march before the bishop, who leans 
humbly on his two deacon-assistants, with the shepherd’s crook 
in his left hand, and his right somewhat raised, ready to give 
his benediction to those Christians whom he meets with in 
his way. 

The bishop being now advanced to the altar, salutes his 
clergy with one single bow of the head. When he is on the 
lowest step, he delivers his crook to the sub-deacon, and the 
deacon takes off his mitre. Then the prelate and his officia¬ 
ting clergy make a profound bow to the cross on the altar; 
after which the clergy all withdraw, except the sub-deacon, 
who has the charge of the episcopal crook, the incense-bearer, 
two deacon-assistants, one priest-assistant, who stands at the 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


283 


bishop’s right hand, one deacon at his left, and one more be¬ 
hind him. The bishop says the confiteor, and the choir sing 
the introite. 

At the end of the confession, the sub-deacon takes the ma¬ 
niple, which was in the book of the New Testament, kisses 
it, and presents it to the bishop for the same purpose; then 
kisses his lordship’s hand, and puts it on his left arm ; in the 
meantime the canons, dressed in their robes, repeat the con¬ 
fession. After this the bishop goes up to the altar, and con¬ 
tinuing his prayer, he leans towards the altar, extending his 
arms upon the table of it,*and kissing it with affection in the 
middle, whilst he makes mention of the sacred relics which 
are, placed therein. The sub-deacon now presents him with 
the book of the New Testament, which he kisses. The in¬ 
cense-bearer then comes forward with the censer and navet, 
which he delivers to the deacon, and the bishop receives them 
from him, in order- to bless the incense. The person who 
officiates, then takes the censer, perfumes the altar, gives it 
back to the deacon, takes the mitre from another deacon, goes 
to the epistle side, and is thrice perfumed there by the deacon 
who holds the censer. 

After this ceremony is over, the bishop kisses the holy 
cross, takes the crosier in his left hand, and leaning upon his 
two deacon-assistants, whilst the deacon and sub-deacon con¬ 
tinue at the altar, goes to his episcopal throne. There, laying 
aside his mitre, and making the sign of the cross, from the 
forehead down to the breast, he reads the introite out of a 
mass-book, which the assistant-priest holds for him, whilst 
another has a wax-taper in his hand to light his lordship. 
The two deacon-assistants point with their finger to the place 
where he is to read ; then all sing the kyrie together; after 
which the bishop puts on his mitre and his gremial, which is 
a sort of sacerdotal apron, and sits down. The two deacon- 
assistants now seat themselves on each side of him, and the 
assistant-priest sits down on a stool. They all rise when the 
choir concludes the kyrie ; then the bishop, turning towards 
the altar, gives out the Gloria in excehis with an audible 
voice, which he continues saying with his ministers. 

There is nothing very remarkable relating to the gradual , 
the hallelujah , and the gospel, unless it be that the last is 
ushered in by a kind of procession. The master of the cere¬ 
monies w’alks first, after him the incense-bearer, and then the 
light-bearers, each with a burning taper. A sub-deacon fol¬ 
lows, with his hands joined, as if he were saying his prayers. 
The deacon comes next, with the New Testament borne upon 


284 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


his breast. This devout assembly, passing in review before 
the altar, salute it with bended knees as they pass along, and 
when they are arrived at the place for reading the gospel, the 
deacon, who then stands between the two taper-bearers, turns 
to the right of the altar, opens the book, and begins the lesson 
out of the gospel. When the deacon says, Dominus vobiscum , 
the bishop rises, and lays aside his mitre and his gremial. 
When he comes to these words, Here beginneth the holy gos¬ 
pel, he makes the sign of the cross; and, to conclude, blesses 
himself by another cross; after which the prelate resumes his 
crosier, then makes the sign of the cross again, and all his 
ministers follow his example. 

The gospel being read, he who officiates kisses the book, 
and all of them return in the same order as they came;—• 
The assistant-priest incensing the bishop. 

In the next place the bishop preaches, or some canon, who 
is a priest, performs that office for him. After sermon, the dea¬ 
con, who sings the gospel, goes to the left hand of the bishop, 
and leaning a little forward, says the conjiteor before him. 

After this confession is over, the assistant-priest publishes 
the indulgences, and the bishop gives the absolution. If there 
be no sermon, they go on from the gospel to the creed, which 
is repeated in form like all the rest. 

The offertory follows the creed. The bishop reads it stand¬ 
ing and bare-headed. When he has done, he returns to his 
seat, and puts on his mitre. One deacon takes off his pastoral 
ring, another his gloves, and some substantial layman presents 
him the basin to wash his hands. The arch-deacon, whom 
the ceremonial constantly calls the assistant-priest, gives him 
the napkin. His lordship goes up again to the altar, sup¬ 
ported by his two assistants ; the sub-deacon goes to the cre¬ 
dence table, and by the help of two acolytes, puts on his 
shoulders the veil which covered the sacred vessels, in such a 
manner, that it hangs a little lower on the right side, than on 
the left. Then with his left hand he takes the chalice and 
paten, on which are two hosts, duly prepared, and covered 
with a pall. The right hand lies lightly over the veil, the 
longest side of which is made use of to cover the chalice. An 
acolyte follows the sub-deacon to the altar with wine and wa¬ 
ter. The deacon presents the paten to the person who 
officiates: all this part of the mass, which is celebrated in a 
solemn manner by the bishop, is performed as in common 
masses. 

The assistant-priest must take care that the prelate who 
officiates exactly follows the rubric of the mass; and some ot 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


285 


the ministers must stand on each side the altar with lighted 
tapers, to honour the elevation of the sacrament. 

When the bishop elevates the host, the deacon who kneels 
on his right side, takes up the border of the celebrant’s planet. 
He observes likewise the same ceremony at the elevation of 
the chalice. It must be observed, that an acolyte incenses the 
body and blood of our Lord, during the elevation of both one 
and the other, three times successively. After that the minis¬ 
ters, who attended the mysteries of the sacrifice with their 
lighted tapers, withdraw to the outside of the presbyteriuin to 
extinguish them, unless they assist in the administration of the 
sacrament. 

After the Agnus Dei , the assistant-priest places himself at 
the bishop’s right hand, and a deacon on his left. The former 
kneels, whilst the celebrant says a short prayer, then rises 
again immediately, and both of them kiss the altar. The cele¬ 
brant gives the kiss of peace to the priest, who turns his left 
cheek to receive it. After this mutual greeting, the assistant- 
priest distributes the kiss which he has received amongst the 
choir, beginning with the clergy of the highest quality in all 
the congregation. The laity kiss the paxis, or instrument of 
peace, which, at less solemn masses, is constantly made use of 
instead of an immediate kiss. There is no variation in what 
follows, from the ceremonies observed at common masses. 

The most solemn mass for the dead, is that which the bishop 
himself celebrates. The melancholy occasion of the ceremony 
does not admit of any pompous decorations on 
the altar. All the flowers, festoons, relics, and de ^ ass forthe 
images, are removed. Six yellow wax-lights, and 
a cross in the middle, are the only ornaments. Two other 
tapers of the same kind give light to the credence-table, which 
is covered with a very plain small table-cloth, and on which 
there is no other ornament than what is absolutely necessary 
for so mournful an occasion; such as a mass-book, a holy 
water-pot, a sprinkler, a thurible, a navet, and a black cloth 
for absolution. The acolytes spread a black cloth upon the 
altar, and the bishop officiates likewise in black. As soon as 
mass is over, he puts on a pluvial of the same colour; the 
dress of his ministers, the episcopal chair, and the pontifical 
books, are all black. The bishop who celebrates this melan¬ 
choly mass, has no crosier in his hand, no gloves on, nor his 
sandals upon his feet; nor does he say the Judiccu , the Remi- 
niscaris , the Quam dilecta, nar several prayers which are 
said at other masses. After the Confileor, he kisses the altar, 
but not the book; nor do the ministers kiss any thing what- 


286 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



ever during tlie celebration of it; for kisses on such melan¬ 
choly occasions are forbidden. They do not cross themselves 
at the Introite , nor is the altar perfumed with frankincense at 
the beginning- of this mass. In short, not to mention several 
other differences which are of less moment to the laity than 
the clergy, we shall only observe, that the person who offi¬ 
ciates does not smite his breast at the Agnus; that he does 
not give the kiss of peace; that he concludes the mass without 
the usual blessing; that no indulgences are published; and 
that the deacon, if it be a general mass for many, says the 
Requiescant in Pace , in the plural number, for the repose of 
the dead. 

The homily follows, and the pulpit for that purpose is hung 
with black; and if it be a particular mass for any private per¬ 
son, remarkable for his quality or virtues, his fortune and 
charitable endowments, the mass for the rest and tranquillity 
of his soul in the other world, is followed by a funeral 
panegyric. 

A Chapelle Ardente, or a pompous representation of the 
deceased, is in the mean time erected, and adorned with 
branches, and illuminated with yellow wax-lights, in the mid¬ 
dle of, or some other part of the church, or round the monu¬ 
ments of persons of distinction. If the deceased be not buried 
in that church, this chapel may be placed in the nave, if he be 
a layman; or, if a clergyman, in the choir, in case it be sepa¬ 
rated from the presbyterium; for it is never allowed to be 
placed there. The head of a priest and the feet of a layman, 
are turned towards the altar. After the homily, they proceed 
to the absolution of the deceased, after the following manner. 
The gospel of St. John being read, the person who officiates, , 
with the deacon and sub-deacon, returns to the middle of the 
altar, from whence, after one genuflection, or one profound 
bow, in case there be no tabernacle, they go to the epistle-side. 
The sub-deacon, when at the bottom of the steps, takes the 
cross, and after he and the deacon have laid aside their mani¬ 
ples, all of them proceed to the place where the Chapelle Ar¬ 
dente, or representation is erected, in the same order as if to 
the interment of the corpse. The incense-bearer, and he who 
carries the holy-water, walk first; the sub-deacon follows, be¬ 
tween the two light-bearers, with the cross; after them come 
the choir, with yellow tapers in their hands. The person 
who officiates, with the deacon on his left-hand, walks last, 
and no one except himself is covered, unless they go out of 
the church, and then all are covered alike. 

Being arrived at the Chapelle Ardente , where the celebrant 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CIIURCII. 


287 


is lo give absolution to the deceased, the incense-bearer, and 
the acolyte who is the holy-water-bearer, place themselves in 
that part of the chapel which fronts the altar, but somewhat 
inclining to the epistle-side, and behind the person who offi¬ 
ciates, who has the deacon on his right hand. The sub-dea¬ 
con who carries the cross, and two light-bearers, stand at the 
other end, at the head of the corpse, a little towards the gos¬ 
pel-side. When they are all placed, the person who officiates 
uncovers himself, and, taking the ritual out of the deacon’s 
hands, begins the absolution of the deceased by a prayer, the 
first words of which are, Non intres in judicium , fyc. Enter 
not into judgment , fyc. We shall omit some of the responses 
that come afterwards, such as the Libera nos , Domine, Spc. to 
come to the benediction of the incense, after which the cele¬ 
brant walks round the representation, sprinkling it with holy- 
water, perfuming it on both sides, and making many bows 
and genuflections. When he has performed the great work 
of absolution, he says the Pater , and thereupon, turns to the 
cross, repeating several verses and prayers which are inserted 
in the rituals. Lastly , he makes the sign of the cross on the 
representation, and says the Requiem for the deceased, to which 
the choir answer, Requiescat in Pace ,— Let him rest in peace. 
After the absolution, the celebrant and his attendants return 
in the same order as they came. 

About the beginning of the fourth century, great attention 
began to be paid to the cross, on account of St. Helena’s good 
fortune, who was the mother of the Emperor . 

Constantine the Great. She is said to have found to'thcTross! 
the true cross in her voyage to the Holy Land. 

The son, who was as religious as his mother, painted the cross 
on his standards; or rather ordered them to be made in that 
form. It is reported, however, that the cross was not intro¬ 
duced into churches till the beginning of the fifth century, not¬ 
withstanding it had appeared upon the coins, colours, shields, 
helmets, and crowns of the emperors, long before that time. 
The sixth Universal Council, held at Constantinople, about the 
close of the seventh century, decreed that Jesus Christ should 
be painted in a human form upon the cross, in order to represent 
in the most lively manner imaginable, to all Christians, the 
death and passion of our blessed Saviour; but emblematic 
figures of him had been in use for many preceding ages. 
Christ was frequently delineated in the form of a lamb, at 
the foot of the cross, and the Holy Ghost in that of a dove. 
Sometimes a crown was set over the cross, to intimate to the 
faithful, that the crown of everlasting glory would be the re* 


288 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


ward of their sufferings for the cross of Christ. A stag 
likewise was sometimes painted at the foot of this sacred 
wood, because that beast, being an enemy to serpents, is the 
symbol of Christ, who is the enemy of the devil. But all 
these emblematical figures were laid aside, at the sight of Je- 
sus Christ represented on the cross in the human form, by a 
decree of the sixth (Ecumenical Council. This was the ori¬ 
gin of crucifixes. 

The cross which Christ suffered on, as some have affirm¬ 
ed, was made of oak. This was fortunately found by St. He¬ 
lena, together with the inscription written over it. Pope Ser¬ 
gius, about the year 690, found another large piece of the 
cross, which is carefully preserved at Rome; and in 1492, 
the inscription was found again in a church that was repair¬ 
ing in the same city. It was said to have been concealed in 
a wall, and the troubles of the times had occasioned it to lie 
there forgotten. Upon this occasion, Pope Alexander VI. 
issued a bull, promising a yearly pardon of their sins to all 
such devout Christians, who should annually, on the last Sun¬ 
day in January, visit the church where that inscription had 
been discovered. A large part of the same inscription upon 
the cross was likewise to be seen at Thoulouse, amongst the 
Benedictine monks, until the close of the eighteenth century. 
It was publicly exposed twice a year, viz. the third of May 
and the fourteenth of September; and at such times it was 
steeped in a certain quantity of water, which was afterwards 
given to the sick, whose faith led them to believe that they 
derived a great benefit from it. In order to reconcile this relic 
with that at Rome, the same arguments must be made use of 
as a certain monk does with respect to the nails of the cross. 
Two of those nails which fastened our Saviour to the cross, 
were found in the time of Constantine, who adorned his hel¬ 
met and horse’s bridle with them. Rome, Milan, and Treves, 
boast of having one of those nails in their possession: that at 
Rome is to be seen in the Church of the Holy Cross of Jeru¬ 
salem, and is annually exposed to the veneration of the peo¬ 
ple ; that at Milan has equal respect paid to it, and as there is 
some reason to believe this to be the same with Constantine’s, 
it is very happily applied to one of the prophecies of the Pro¬ 
phet Zacharias, viz. chap. xiv. verse 20. That of Treves is 
not quite so much regarded; but, however, it deserves no less 
the adoration of the devout. These are the three remarkable 
nails which pierced Christ’s hands and feet. The others, 
to which it has been thought proper to ascribe the melancholy 
honour of having been instrumental to our Saviour’s suffer- 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


289 


ings, are either those which have been rubbed against the 
former, in order to receive the same divine and miraculous 
qualities: or they are only little parts of the true and genuine 
ones, like that, for instance, at Aix-la-Chapelle, which is the 
point only of that shown at Rome; or they are only such as 
have fastened the various pieces of the cross together. Some 
of them are likewise supposed to be nails of crosses to which 
several holy martyrs were formerly fixed; and as martyrs are 
the members of Christ, there is some authority for main¬ 
taining them to be the nails of our Saviour’s cross. Pope In¬ 
nocent VL in 1353, appointed a festival for these sacred nails. 

In regard to the genuineness of the cross found by St. He¬ 
lena, we suspect some difficulty would present itself in esta¬ 
blishing that important point, for there are a great number of 
Catholic churches which boast of being in possession of the 
genuine cross, and consequently declare St. Helena to be an 
impostor. It is, however, of no great moment, since the false 
and the true crosses possess the same power of performing the 
most extraordinary miracles. This is, however, positively 
denied by the true believers in the St. Helena cross; and in 
order to substantiate this faith, they affirm that she was puz¬ 
zled how to distinguish our Saviour’s cross from two others 
which she found near it; viz. the crosses of the two thieves; 
but St. Macarius, however, very kindly and opportunely step¬ 
ped in to solve the important problem : he directed the people 
to join with him in prayer, and begged of God that he would 
vouchsafe to discover to him which was the true cross : and 
God heard him, A woman at the point of death was brought 
to the crosses of the two thieves, and made to touch them one 
after another, but to no manner of purpose: after this, she was 
brought to our Saviour’s, and was immediately conscious that 
her distemper was removed ; whereas, till that time, the most 
artful medicines had proved ineffectual. 

The cross of the good thief was long after found, and car¬ 
ried to Rome. It is at the Church of the Holy Cross of Je¬ 
rusalem. 

Loretto is famous for the image of our Lady. There is 
likewise a miraculous image made by St. Luke, Celebrated 
in the Borough of Cirolo, on the road to that crucifixes. 

city. . . 

The Santissimo Crocefisso in the Church of St. Dommic 
the Great, at Naples, is composed of wood; nor does the 
coarseness of the stuff in the least diminish its value; the 
gratitude it showed to St. Thomas Aquinas, by thanking him, 
in an eloquent speech, for his beautiful and instructive wri- 
25 


200 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


ting's, no doubt redoubles the zeal of all those devout Christians 
who visit the chapel. 

The Santo Volto at Lucca is made of cypress, and dressed 
in a very pompous vestment; its shoes are silver, covered with 
plates of gold; and its head is adorned with a crown, set all 
round with jewels. It is said that Nicodemus was the artifi¬ 
cer who made it; but it is the general belief, that the face is 
the only part for which we are indebted to the said Nico¬ 
demus; nor ought this belief to be questioned, except by 
those stubborn, stiff-necked heretics, who presume to impugn 
the veracity of the following narrative. The bold underta¬ 
king having drawn down certain angels from heaven, out of 
curiosity, to see how Nicodemus could accomplish so im¬ 
portant a task, they were soon tired with the slow progress 
which he made; and, being moved with compassion for a 
man, whose zeal had prompted him to undertake a more than 
human work, they, in a truly angelic manner, gave it the fin¬ 
ishing stroke themselves; and on that account the crucifix 
took the name of Santo Volto. How this wonderful crucifix 
came to Lucca we acknowledge ourselves at a loss to de¬ 
termine. At first it was carried, or rather went of itself, and 
took up its abode at St. Fredianus’s Church ; but either finding 
itself there too much confined, or having particular reasons for 
removing its quarters, it fled to the cathedral of Lucca, and 
remained suspended in the air, until an altar was erected for 
it, on the spot where it was found. This charitable crucifix, 
one day, according to Curtius, was determined to bestow one of 
its shoes upon a poor man, who begged its charitable assist¬ 
ance. This gift was made known, the shoe was redeemed, 
and the poor man had the value of it given him in gold. 

The crucifix at Loretto is famous for divers miracles. The 
angels transported it with the Santa Casa from Palestine to 
Italy. A crucifix of St. Mary Transpontina at Rome, fre¬ 
quently conversed in the most familiar manner with St. Peter 
and St. Paul. 

The sacred crucifix at Trent is remarkable for the appro¬ 
bation which it gave to the decrees of the council held in that 
city in the sixteenth century. 

In the church of the Beguine nuns at Ghent, there is a 
crucifix with its mouth always open. One of the Beguines, 
affronted at being excluded from a party of pleasure, which 
had been made one day in the carnival, complained to the 
crucifix of it, which, at the same time that it exhorted her not 
to disturb herself, nor to be vexed at the disappointment, invi¬ 
ted her to be its wedded bride, and she died the next day! 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 291 

Ever since that time, the crucifix has remained with its mouth 
open! 

We must not omit the crucifix at Bavaria, which was dis¬ 
covered by a stag that was hunted by some dogs. The stag 
showed it to the huntsmen with his foot, and never attempted 
to make his escape, till he had discovered the crucifix to them. 
This miracle happened in the reign of Charlemagne, and 
gave the name to the Convent of Pollingen, the first syllable 
of which seems to express the barking of dogs. A fair was 
established at Pollingen, by which means the crucifix, convent, 
and church, which St. Boniface erected there, soon grew fa¬ 
mous, and drew upon Pollingen the jealousy of Weilhaum, a 
small adjacent village. They procured the fair to be removed 
thither, which slackened the devotion of the Bavarians, and 
soon occasioned the crucifix to be forgotten; but it soon re¬ 
venged itself, by becoming an incendiary, and laying the little 
town of Weilhaum in ashes. Notwithstanding this public 
calamity, that town could not agree to part with the treasure 
which it had so unjustly obtained; but a second fire, which 
once more destroyed it, obliged the unhappy town to restore 
what it had so sacrilegiously usurped. 

In a church at Cologne there is a crucifix, the head of 
which is covered with a peruke. The date of this head-dress 
is not known, but all that can be said of it is, that it cannot be 
of any long standing, since the use of perukes is pretty 
modern. This peruke is very marvellous, for the hair is 
never diminished, although the devotees who visit it, never 
take their leave without carrying away one or two locks of it. 

We shall not enter into the history of an infinite number of. 
crucifixes, dispersed over various parts of the Catholic coun¬ 
tries, some of which have shed tears, others sweated blood, and 
others again have discovered sacrileges, and struck the male¬ 
factors either blind or lame. Some have even restored life to 
the dead, and others health to the diseased, and all have dis¬ 
tinguished themselves by some miraculous event. Neither 
shall we mention any domestic crucifixes, since their favours 
seldom reach farther than the families which they protect; we 
cannot, however, in justice to the latter, omit to mention the 
crucifix which obliged F. Bencius with several nocturnal vi¬ 
sits, and at last made him determine to assume the Jesuit’s habit. 

From the adoration of wooden crosses, the Catholics pro¬ 
ceed to that of metal objects, amongst which bells maintain a 
very exalted rank, at the same time that they Custom of 
are invested w r ith qualifications, of which, for having bells 
some particular reason, the Protestant bells are in CU11C es * 


292 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


wholly destitute. Amongst other incomparable properties of the 
Roman Catholic bells, they are said to represent the duration 
of the Gospel, whose glorious sound has been carried through¬ 
out the whole earth. They likewise represent the Church 
encouraging the faithful to praise the Lord, and the pastors of 
the Gospel preaching the word of God. They have besides 
several other mysterious significations, which are to be met 
with in the rituals. And, as a further proof of the miraculous 
power of the Catholic bells, it is stated, that in a church at 
Rome there was formerly preserved a part of the sound of the 
bells of Jerusalem. 

The ceremony of blessing bells is by the people called 
christening them, because the name of some of the saints is 
ascribed to them, by virtue of whose invocation 
of “ ion they are presented to God, in order that they 
may obtain his favour and protection. The ben¬ 
ediction devotes them to God’s service, that he may confer on 
them the power, not of basely striking the ear, but of touching 
the heart by the influence of the Holy Ghost. When they are 
thus blessed and rung out, they contribute very much towards 
the priests’ success in exorcisms, &c. 

It is the bishops peculiar province to perform this ceremony, 
which consists chiefly in washing the bell inwardly and out¬ 
wardly w r ith salt and water, and anointing it with oil. It is 
afterwards in a manner baptized with holy chrism, upon which 
it is consecrated in the name of the sacred Trinity; and the 
saint who stands its godfather is then nominated. The bell 
thus christened or consecrated is then perfumed. 

Pope John XIII. was the first who baptized bells, by giving 
his own name to that of St. John de Lateran in 965. As the 
consecration of bells represents, according to the rituals, the 
consecration of pastors, so the inward and outward ablution, 
succeeded by the anointing with oil, denotes the sanctification 
f their baptism; the seven unctions in the form of a cross, show 
'hat pastors should excel all other Christians in the graces of 
Holy Ghost , and possess the fulness thereof typified by the 
gifts; the anointing the inside with the chrism signifies 
complete fulness of the Holy Ghost, with which the bishop 
finds himself endowed by his ordination. The perfuming in¬ 
cludes mysteries of no less importance. As the smoke of the 
perfumes arises in the bell, and fills it, so a pastor who is 
adorned with the fulness of God’s spirit, receives the perfume 
of the solemn vows and supplications of the faithful. 

Durant , in his treatise De Ritibus , says, that “ The metal of 
a bell denotes the strength of the preacher’s understanding, 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


293 


and the clapper his tongue. The stroke of the clapper, the 
censure of the latter against immorality and profaneness; the 
part that holds the clapper signifies the moderation of the 
tongue. The wood on which the bell hangs represents the 
wood of the cross; the pieces to which the wood is fixed, the 
oracles of the prophets. The cramp-iron, fixing the bell to 
the wood, expresses the preacher’s attachment to the cross of 
Christ. The bell-rope likewise includes considerable mys¬ 
teries ; the three cords, for instance, of which it is made, are 
the three senses of the scripture, viz. the historical, the moral, 
and the allegorical: they are likewise emblematical of the 
three persons of the Holy Trinity. 

Images were early introduced into churches, and were de¬ 
signed to heighten the devotion of the people by such objects 
as strike the senses. God is painted in churches 
like a venerable old man, he having styled him- Benediction 
self the “ Ancient of Days;" the Son is repre- ° images * 
sented likewise as a man, he having put on a human form; 
and the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove, the hieroglyphic of 
simplicity and integrity. The angels are painted as young 
boys, with wings on their shoulders ; their character and in¬ 
dustry, as the ministers of God, being described by nothing 
more aptly than the youth of man, and the agility of birds. 
Jesus Christ was formerly represented in the form of a lamb, 
with one foot before the cross ; and sometimes as a shepherd 
with a lamb on his shoulders. The manner of painting the 
Holy Ghost like a dove is very ancient; and even the Eucha¬ 
rist was formerly kept in a box, made in the shape of that 
bird. 

There are few Christians, who are strangers to the pre¬ 
tended miracles and wondrous effects of the images of the 
Catholic Saints. We shall give the reader some Miracles 
instances. The image of Jesus Christ, which wrought by 
an impious wretch had stabbed with his dagger, ima o es * 
on feeling the blow, laid its hand upon the wound: this image 
is famous at Naples. But that of “ Our Lady,” now at Rome, 
in the Pauline Chapel, made by St. Luke, the celebrated 
painter and evangelist, is no less remarkable. It is reported 
that the angels have frequently sung the litanies round her. 
The image of St. Catharine of Sienna has often driven away 
devils, and wrought several other extraordinary miracles. 
Our Lady of Lucca, being treated in a very insolent manner 
by a soldier, who threw stones at her, and had nearly broken 
the head of the young Jesus, whom she held in her right arm, 
placed the child in a moment on her left! and the child liked 
25 * 


294 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


that situation so well, that since that accident, he has never 
changed it! It would be tedious here, to give the history of 
several other miraculous images, there being entire books 
written upon the subject, to which we must refer the curious 


The 

shrouds. 


reader. 

By the sacred or holy shrouds is meant that in which the 
body of the Redeemer was wrapped in the sepulchre, while 
the soul descended into hell to triumph over death and the 
grave. There are two celebrated shrouds in 
Europe, that of Bezancon, and that of Turin. 
Both of these were brought from Palestine in 
the time of the Crusades, about the beginning of the twelfth 
century. 

The shroud of Bezancon is famous for the miracles it ha3 
wrought. It has even raised the dead; and this resurrection, 
which happened in the fourteenth century, con- 
siderably increased its reputation. The Church 
of St. Stephen, where this sacred relic was once 
kept, was soon found too small. The vast crowd of devotees, 
who flocked in from all quarters to see it, obliged them to erect 
a wooden theatre before the church, and afterwards a stone 
one, from whence it is exposed to public view twice a year, 
viz. on Easter-day, and on the Sunday after Ascension. 
Chifflet, in his Dissertation, has preserved the memory of the 
miracles, which were performed by this relic. It has several 
times cured desperate distempers, restored the blind to sight, 
put a stop to the plague; nay, the very images of this holy 
relic have wrought miraculous cures. 


Shroud 

Bezancon 


The holy shroud of Turin falls nothing short of the other ; 
this likewise was brought from Jerusalem, and we are in- 
Shroud of f° rme d by Chifflet, that, after two or three times 
Turin. changing its situation, it fixed itself at last at Tu¬ 

rin, in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud , which is 
within the cathedral. This relic is noted equally with the 
other for its surprising miracles. ^In 1534, its very presence 
only, delivered some that were possessed of devils; and if the 
father of a certain child, who saw his son drowning, had not 
invoked its aid and assistance, the youth would have been in¬ 
evitably lost. It is exposed to public view on the fourth of 
May, being its festival, which was instituted by Julius II. in 
1506. According to Chifflet, the shroud was then at Cham- 
berg. The plague which raged in Italy, in 1578, was the 
cause of its being brought to Turin. Duke Emanuel Phili¬ 
bert, who had it translated, promised to restore it to the people 
of Chamberg; but neither he, nor his successors, ever per- 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


295 


formed that promise; and the Savoyards complain, that their 
country has been exposed to great calamities ever since it has 
been removed. The mule which carried the sacred relic, and 
would not stir one step beyond the gate of Chamberg, is a 
manifest proof of the right which the inhabitants possess to 
such an invaluable property. Pope Julius established a so¬ 
ciety in honour of this sacred relic, to comply with the devo¬ 
tion of Duke Charles and Claude his mother. He added 
indulgences for those who visited its chapel and paid their de¬ 
votion there on stated days. 

Besides these two shrouds, there is one deposited in 'the 
church of St. Cornelius at Compeigne. There are three 
others at Rome; one at Milan; one at Lisbon; and one at 
Aix-la-Chapelle: most of them are known by the name of 
Veronica. There are likewise two others in the latter city; 
one called the holy garment in which Joseph of Arimathea 
wrapped the body of Our Blessed Saviour, when he put him 
into the sepulchre; the other, which they particularly call the 
Holy Handkerchief is that with which the face of Christ 
was covered, and which St. Peter found in a separate place 
from the other vestments , as an infallible testimony that 
Christ teas risen. 

No layman is permitted to make use of any Sacred ves- 
sacred utensils whatsoever. It is the privilege sets, &c. be- 
of the clergy alone to handle them; this custom longing to the 
is borrowed from the Jews. a,tar ‘ 

The Chalice must be made either of gold or silver: in the 
infancy of the Church, the chalices were all wood; but in 
process of time they were made of glass or marble, Q lia jj ce 

and at last of silver or gold. The bishop is 
obliged to consecrate the chalices, as well as the patens, both 
within and without. Small chalices, generally, are nine 
inches in height, and large ones eleven or twelve. 

The Paten must be made of the same metal as the chalice, 
and the use of it is to hold the consecrated host; it must like¬ 
wise be answerable to the size of the chalice, 
that is, about six or eight inches in diameter. 

The Pix, in which the Holy Sacrament is deposited, must 
be, at least, of silver, gilt within, and its foot must be half a 
span high. The height of the cup must be pro- The pix 
portioned to its breadth, and the bottom must 
have a gentle rising, in order the more commodiously to take 
out the wafers when there are but few in it, and to cleanse it 
when there is occasion. The wafers are not to lie above eight 
days at most in the pix, without the latter being cleansed, lest 


The Paten. 


296 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


they should happen to grow mouldy. A veil in the form of a 
tent made of a rich white stuff with a fringe round it, must 
cover this precious repository of the wafers. 

There must likewise be a box to carry the communion to 
the sick, made of silver, gilt within, and it must be put into a 
white silk purse, and hung about the neck, in such places as are 
difficult of access. The box and pix must be blessed.—There 
must be another box for large wafers which are round, and ra¬ 
ther larger than the others; and this may be made of silver, 
tin, pasteboard, &c. lined with white taffeta within, and adorn¬ 
ed with some rich silk without: a round leaden plate, covered 
with taffeta, must be put into the box, that the wafers may be 
always ready. These wafers must neither be kept in too dry, 
nor too moist a place. Such as are too stale must never be 
made use of. 

The Sun for exposing the Holy Sacrament must be made 
of silver: the foot of the smallest must be a span in height. 
The Sun Tfd s sun must have two crystals, one third of a 
span diameter, or more, that a large wafer may 
the more commodiously be put between ; and this must be set 
in a little half-moon made of silver, and gilt. One of the 
crystals must be fastened to the sun by a small chain, like the 
case of a watch: there must be a cross, likewise over the 
sun. 

The Thurible may be made of silver or pewter, but there 
should be four chains to it. Two thuribles are used in pro- 
The Thuri- cessions of the Holy Sacrament, but at no other 
b1 ®- times. The navet must be of the same metal 

with the thurible. 


Germanus of Constantinople says, that the thurible repre¬ 
sents the human nature of Christ. The burning of the per¬ 
fume is his divine nature ; the perfume itself, the Holy Ghost; 
the incense is the emblem of penance, of preaching the gospel, 
and of the prayers of the faithful. It also represents the vir¬ 
tues and good works of the saints. The thurible, according 
to St. Austin, is likewise the image of Christ’s body. St. Am¬ 
brose very gravely observes, that an angel appears at this ce¬ 
remony. 

Ihe Incense Avhich is made use of at church, must be of 
an odoriferous smell, and be a little broken before it is put in¬ 
to the navet, but not reduced to powder. 

The Hcly-water-pol ought to be made of silver, pewter, or 
tin, the sprinkler of the same, or else of wood, with hog’s 
The Holy- bristles or wolfs hair twisted round about It; 
water-pot. and at the end of it there must be a hollow 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


297 


knob with holes, in which a small sponge is enclosed. 
There must be two vessels of pewter, delf, or earthenware, 
for washing the corporals, pales, purificatories, and chalices. 
In the place where the wafers are made, there must be another 
pewter ar earthenware vessel, to be appropriated to this use, 
and no other. 

The Peace-utensil must be made of gold, silver, or em¬ 
broidery, with some pious image of the crucifix, or other mys¬ 
tery upon it. It must be half a span high, not 
quite an inch broad, and end in a semicircle at The Peace- 
top. There must be a small handle to hold it by en&1 ' 
to which a veil must be fastened, of the colour of the service 
of the day, to wipe it with. 

The Corporals must be made of fine white linen; not too 
thin, nor stitched, and without lace; but if there be any lace, 
it must be very narrow, and not more than two 
fingers broad at the projecting edge. In that part ra ^ ie Cor P°* 
where the priest most commonly kisses the altar, 
a small cross must be placed, and made of white silk, or 
thread in this form The corporals must be folded in 

such a manner, that all the ends may be in the inside, and 
not seen. 

The use of corporals is said to have been appointed by 
Pope Eusebius, or by Sylvester I. This represents the 
sheet in which our Saviour’s body was wrapped after his 
death, and for that reason can be made of nothing but linen. 

The Pales must be made of the same linen as the corpo¬ 
rals, and lined with stiffening pasteboard. Upon these there 
must be neither embroidery, cross, nor image, 
nor any lace round them ; but four small tassels The Pales, 
only at the four corners to hold them by. They must be 
blessed with the corporals, and no person under a sub-deacon 
may presume to touch them. 

The Purificatories are made of linen, and 
are two spans in length; they are folded three cator -g S un 
times double, and there must be a small cross of 
blue thread in the middle of them. 

The outside of the Purses for the corporals is made of the 
same kind of stuff as the other decorations, but The p urses 
the inside is lined with fine white linen, with a 
strong pasteboard between. These purses are about a span 
wide, are fastened by a button and loop, and have a cross em¬ 
broidered on the outside, of about three quarters of a span in 
ength. 

The Veil of the chalice is made of silk, and of the same 


298 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH: 


m. tt colour as the rest of the decorations it is thiee 
The Veil of } - .1 _ 

the Chalice. spans square, and has no cross, or any other 

figure whatever. 

In those churches in which the solemn service is perform¬ 
ed, the sub-deacon must have veils of teiT spans long, and as 
wide as the silk, of four colours, viz. white, red, green, and 
purple, wherewith to hold up the paten at high mass. Black 
veils are never made use of, not even at masses for the dead, 
nor even on Good Friday. They must be made therefore of 
white silk, and be edged with lace. Aid s Ritual adds, “ that 
in the most celebrated churches, there must be another white 
veil of the same size, but more costly, to throw over the shoul¬ 
ders of the celebrant, when he carries the host in procession; 
and in the parish-church, there must be a canopy likewise of 
white silk, for the holy viaticum , when it is carried to the sick, 
of five or six spans long, and four wide, or rather more. The 
vallance, with the fringe, must he a span and a half deep, and 
both must be made of white silk. It must be carried with 
two poles of five or six spans long, which are covered with 
the same silk as the canopy, if they are neither painted nor 
gilt.” He who carries the Holy Sacrament to the sick, is in¬ 
ferior to him who carries it in procession. 

There must be veils, likewise, or covers, to the crosses and 
images in passion-week, which must be made of camlet, or 
some other stuff of purple colour, but without any figure, 
image, cross, or other implements of the passion. 

In every parish-church there ought to be a standard, about 
nine or ten spans high, and six long, of a colour suitable to 
its patron; and in the middle of it the patron must be repre¬ 
sented in embroidery. This standard must be of satin, da¬ 
mask, taffeta, or camlet, lined with linen, or a light stuff, and 
have a silk border and a fringe all round it. The pole of it 
must be about three yards long. 

The pope performs the ceremony of baptizing and giving 
his benediction to th e, Agnus Dds in the first year of his pon- 
tificate; and repeats it on every seventh year. 

diction ofTlie Tiles( r Agnuses are a sort of pastils, made of 
Agnus Dei. wax, in the form of an oval medal, upon which 
Jesus Christ, is represented under the appear¬ 
ance of a lamb, holding a cross; for which reason they are 
called Agnuses. The wax was formerly provided by one of 
the gentlemen of his holiness’s chamber, who held his office 
from the master or chamberlain of the sacred palace. Those 
who were desirous to have any Agnuses , laid some wax upon 
the altar of St. Peter; and an apostolic sub-deacon fetched it 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


299 


thence, and carried it to an apartment in the pontiff’s palace. 
The sub-deacon, and his colleagues, assisted by some of the 
acolytes, moulded the wax, and with great devotion and neat¬ 
ness, made it up into Agnuses, according to the directions of 
the Roman ceremonial. These sacred pastils are now provi¬ 
ded at the expense of the apostolic chamber. The wax, which 
is the ground-work or substance of them, is melted in a quan¬ 
tity of sacred oil and chrism of the preceding year. When 
the materials are completely prepared, the Agnuses are pre¬ 
sented to the Pontiff in one, or more basins, and he gives 
them his benediction. 

On Easter-Tuesday, the sacristan performs the benediction 
over the water used for baptizing the Agnuses ; m and the next 
day, as soon as the pontifical mass is ended, his holiness, 
dressed in his amict, his albe, his stole of white damask with 
a silver lace, and having a mitre of cloth of gold upon his 
head, consecrates the water, which w T as blessed by the sacristan 
on the preceding day. This water is put into a large silver 
basin; the consecration consists of the usual blessings, to 
which the holy father adds a prayer to Almighty God that he 
would vouchsafe to sanctify those things which wash away 
the sins of mankind, &c. after which, he takes some balm, 
and pours it into the water, adding thereto the holy chrism, 
which he likewise pours into it, in the form of a cross. He 
offers up several prayers to God during the performance of 
this ceremony ; then he turns to the Agnuses , blesses and in¬ 
censes them, imploring God to shower down upon them all 
the virtues generally ascribed to them. A second and third 
prayer follow; after which, his holiness, seated in an easy 
chair, prepared purposely for him, having a napkin girt about 
him, and his mitre on, takes the Agnuses , which the gentle¬ 
men of the chamber present him in silver gilt basins, one after 
another, and throws them into the holy water. 

The cardinals, in their fine linen albes, take them out the 
next moment, with a spoon made use of for no other purpose. 
Their eminences afterwards lay them on a table covered with 
a clean white cloth, and there wipe them with a napkin, which 
they likewise wear in the form of an apron, and the assistant 
prelates range them upon the table, where they are left till 
they are thoroughly dry. After this baptism is over, the holy 
father rises, and in a prayer addresses himself to the Holy 
Ghost, beseeching him to bless them ; and then makes his ap¬ 
plication to Jesus Christ: after this, they are put into the 
basins again, and his holiness invites ail the cardinals who 
have assisted him in this office, to dine with him. This work 


300 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


is resumed on the Thursday following, and continued till the 
Friday, when they are all blessed. This ceremony is per¬ 
formed in the presence of several ambassadors, and a multitude 
of strangers, whom curiosity brings thither to be spectators. 

On the following Saturday, being the day on which the Ag- 
nuses are distributed, a chapel is held, and mass is sung by a 
cardinal priest, at which his holiness assists in his pontificali- 
bus. As soon as the Agnus Dei is sung, an apostolic sub¬ 
deacon, dressed in his robes, with a cross-bearer, two wax-taper- 
bearers, and the thuriferary before him, goes to the pontiff’s 
sacristan, and takes from him a basin full of the Agnus Dei's, 
lately blessed, and wrapped up in party-coloured China cotton. 
The sub-deacon is followed by a clerk of the ceremonies, and 
two chaplains in their surplices. When these arrive at the 
door of the chapel, they all kneel, and the sub-deacon, with 
an audible voice, sings these words in Latin. “ Holy father, 
these are the new lambs, who have sung their hallelujahs to 
you. They drank not long ago at the fountain of holy water. 
They are now very much enlightened.—Praise the Lord!” 
To which the music in the choir answers, “ God be praised : 
hallelujah !”—After this, the sub-deacon rises, and walks for¬ 
wards. As soon as he gets to the entrance of the balustrade 
in the chapel, he repeats the words just before-mentioned. 
When he approaches the pontifical throne, he repeats them s 
third time, and prostrates himself at the feet of his holiness, 
who receives him sitting, with his mitre on. When the cross 
enters, however, he and the whole congregation rise; but the 
holy father sits down again immediately, though the sub-dea¬ 
con remains kneeling at his feet, whilst he distributes the Ag- 
nuses in the following manner. 

Two auditors take a fine white napkin, and present it to 
two cardinal-deacons assistants, who lay it in a decent manner 
on the knees of his holiness ; and the two former hold the 
two ends of the napkin, whilst the sacred college partake of 
the holy father’s munificence. Their eminences, after their 
usual testimonies of respect and veneration, present their mi¬ 
tres, wdth the horns downwards, to his holiness, who puts as 
many Agnuses as he thinks proper into them. Formerly, he 
bestowed no more than three to each of the sacred college, 
two to the other prelates, and one to the clergy, &c. Their 
eminences, in return, kiss his holiness’s hand and knee. After 
they and the clergy have received their share, several ambas¬ 
sadors, and other persons of distinction, come forward with 
white napkins, to partake in their turn, but not so liberally, cf 
these spiritual benefits. 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


301 


The distribution thus made, the pope washes his hands, 
the sacred college unrobe, the celebrant returns to the altar, 
mass concludes with a double hallelujah, and his holiness be¬ 
stows his benediction on his children, with a great many in¬ 
dulgences, which arti published by the celebrant. The popes, 
as we find by the Roman Ceremonial , had formerly a basin 
full of Agnuses brought to the table after dinner, which they 
distributed among the apostolic cOurt. 

All the Agnus Dei's which remain out of the prodigious 
number that have been blessed, are left in the prelate’s cus¬ 
tody, who is master of the pope’s wardrobe; and he distributes 
them every day at certain hours among the pilgrims, and 
other foreigners, who go and ask for them. By one of the 
constitutions of Pope Gregory the thirteenth, made in 1572, 
all those who were not in holy orders were forbidden to touch 
these Agnus Dei's , unless on some emergent occasion; and, 
as a still farther precaution, all laymen were directed to have 
them set in glass, or crystal; and that those who had the 
means of wrapping them up in some rich embroidery should 
so order it, that the Agnus might appear on one side as in a 
reliquary. Painting them was likewise prohibited.by the same 
constitution, upon pain of excommunication; the whiteness of 
the wax, in which these figures in relievo were formed, being 
esteemed by Pope Gregory more suitable than any other co¬ 
lour whatsoever, to represent the immaculate Lamb of God; 
which are the words made use of by all the popes, from Gre¬ 
gory the thirteenth to this day, in speaking of the miraculous 
effects of Agnuses. 

Before the person to be canonized is registered amongst the 
number of the saints, his holiness holds four consistories. 
The two first are private, the third public, and 
the fourth between both. In the first, he causes 
the petition of those, who demand to have their 
saint universally acknowledged as such in the 
Catholic Church, to be examined by three auditors of the rota, 
and directs the cardinals to revise all the instruments relating 
thereunto. In the second, the cardinals make their report. 
The third, being held in public, the cardinals pay their ado¬ 
ration to his Holiness; after which, one of the consistorial 
advocates makes the eulogium of the person who is to be 
proclaimed a saint, and gives a long and particular account 
of the life and miracles of this faithful servant of God. The 
fourth consistory is held in the ducal hall, where his ho¬ 
liness assists in his plain mitre and pluvial; at which no ado¬ 
ration is paid to him. Patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, pro- 
26 


Canoniza¬ 
tion of the 
saints. 


302 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

thonotaries, and auditors of the rota, are admitted at this con¬ 
sistory, and the train bearers perform their office dressed in 
purple; but after the extra, every body goes out but the pre¬ 
lates before-mentioned. This consistory is held for taking the 
votes of those prelates who are for and against the canoni¬ 
zation, and, as soon as it is resolved upon by a plurality of 
voices, the pope intimates the day appointed for the ceremony. 

On the canonization-day* the pope officiates in white, and 
the cardinals are dressed in the same colour. St. Peter’s 
church is hung with rich tapestry, upon which appears the 
arms of his holiness, or of that prince or state which requires 
the canonization, embroidered with gold and silver, and the 
church is most pompously illuminated. 

Canonization is attended with immense expense to those 
princes who are desirous of the glory of procuring it for some 
favourite Christian. Beatification is in some measure the 
forerunner of it; for beatitude naturally leads to sanctity, and 
to a supposition, that he that is accounted blessed here below, 
ought to be acknowledged as such in heaven. 

The surprising virtues which were discovered in the relics 
of saints, for the cure of those who were diseased, and for the 
salvation of men’s souls, gave birth to their translation. It 
was likewise the received opinion, that the bodies of the saints 
were able to draw down the blessings of heaven on cities and 
states; accordingly, nations put themselves under their pro¬ 
tection. The numberless miracles which are related in the 
legends, as well ancient as modern, convinced the populace 
that the protection of saints was a circumstance of the last im¬ 
portance. Their images were erected in their churches, and 
their names included in their litanies. To that time, canoni¬ 
zations were made by a tacit consent of the clergy, without the 
least formality; but the use of registers, known by the name 
of Diptics, had obtained long before that, in which were set 
down the names of martyrs, and those who died in a reputa¬ 
tion for holiness, after having distinguished themselves by a 
virtuous life. 

There is no instance of a solemn canonization, before that of 
St. Sibert, whom Pope Leo III. canonized about the beginning 
of the ninth century; though some attribute the first solemn 
canonization to Pope Adrian, and others are of opinion that 
St. Ulric, who was canonized by Pope John XIV. or XV. in 
993, was the first saint canonized in form; and some again 
ascribe the glory of this institution to Pope Alexander III. 

A magnificent theatre is always erected in St. Peter’s 
church, for the ceremony of canonization. On the day the 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 303 

ceremony is to be performed, the entrance to the theatre is 
lined by the Swiss guards, who are likewise posted at the 
doors of the basilica; a detachment of the horse-guards is 
drawn up in St. Peter’s square, another of the cuirassiers in 
that of the Vatican, and a third in all the streets through which 
the procession passes. These guards, together with those 
which are posted in the other quarters of Rome, and the gar¬ 
rison of St. Angelo, make a general discharge of their artil¬ 
lery, when the signal is given that the ceremony is begun, and 
ail the bells in the city are rung at the same time. Te Deum 
likewise is sung to instrumental music, &c. 

The following is a description of the honours which Pope 
Clement XI. paid, in 1712, to those saints w r ho were publicly 
acknowledged by his holiness as the mediators of all Christ¬ 
ians with Jesus Christ. 

All the avenues of St. Peter’s were lined with troops on the 
twenty-second of May, and the whole force was scarcely suf¬ 
ficient to withstand the impetuous movements of the vast con¬ 
course of people, of all ages and sexes, whom devotion and 
curiosity had brought thither to see the ceremony. This pro¬ 
digious concourse of all ranks and degrees flocked from every 
part of Rome to St. Peter’s by break of day; whilst the clergy, 
both secular and regular, according to the order issued to 
them, assembled at the Vatican. The cardinal-deacons then 
robed the pope in his proper ornaments; after which his holi¬ 
ness set out for Sixtus’s chapel, with the cross before, and the 
clergy behind him. As soon as he arrived there, he made 
the sign of the cross over his devout retinue, took off his triple 
crown, and kneeling dowrn, prayed before the altar. After¬ 
wards he gave out the hymn, w 7 hich begins with these words, 
Ave Maria Stella , &c. and then kneeled down again, till the 
music of the chapel had concluded. The holy father now 
arose, put on his mitre, returned to his chair, and there received 
from Cardinal Albani, w^fio was his nephew, and petitioner for 
the canonization, tw r o large painted tapers, and a small one, 
with the arms of his holiness and the images of the candi¬ 
date saints upon them. His eminence, at presenting them, 
kissed the hand and knee of the pontiff One of these large 
tapers w r as, by the directions of his holiness, given to the con¬ 
stable Colonna, in order to carry it in the procession before 
him, and to hold it in his hand during the ceremony of canoni¬ 
zation. The other w r as not disposed of, there being no person 
present of suitable quality to w r alk abreast with the constable 
on this solemn occasion. The small taper w r as given to the 
cup-bearer, first chamberlain to his holiness, but a general dis- 


304 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


tribution of tapers was first made among the clergy, each of 
them being distinguished according to his rank and dignity. 

It is related of St. Raymond of Pennaforte, that, after having 
long censured the dissolute deportment of a king of Spain, 
p° wer of tlie without being able to wean him from his crimi- 
modern nal engagements, he determined to leave him to 

saints. his own wicked inclinations, and to embark for 

Barcelona. But his majesty having charged all 
persons not to take him on board, St. Raymond revived the 
miracle of our Saviour’s walking upon the water ; he threw 
his cloak into the sea, and taking his staff in his hand, em¬ 
barked in this new kind of boat, and arrived safe in Catalonia. 
The very gate of the convent to which'he belonged, opened of 
itself at the saint’s approach. 

St. Peter of Nola, who styled himself an unprofitable ser¬ 
vant,—that ojfi-scouring of the earth , and mere nothing ,—had 
very frequent and familiar discourses with God and the 
Blessed Virgin. The apostle St. Peter one day honoured 
him with a visit,-in the same posture in which he was cruci¬ 
fied, that is, with his heels upwards. 

St. Francis silenced the swallows who interrupted him in 
his sermon, so that they stood still and mute with awe and 
wonder, whilst he expounded the truths of the gospel. 

St. Anthony of Padua likewise, being unable to gain the at¬ 
tention of the heretics, desired them to go to the sea-side, in 
order to convince them of the tractable disposition of the fishes, 
which immediately left their streams to hearken to his preach¬ 
ing, and stood erect on their tails, enraptured with his pious 
discourses. 

St. Francis of Paula was endowed with a supernatural 
strength. He carried away, without any assistance, a prodi¬ 
gious large rock, which obstructed the foundation of the dor¬ 
mitory of a monastery which he was building. He likewise 
hung up in the air a piece of rock, which broke from a moun¬ 
tain, and threatened to demolish his new edifice, and to dash 
in pieces a great number of his workmen. He afterwards 
supported it with his staff, and left it for a long time in that 
position, exposed to public view, to the edification of a multi¬ 
tude of people, who resorted thither in crowds to see such a 
miracle. This rock was afterwards made use of in finishing 
his new monastery. 

Manna has been often seen to fall on St. Agnes of Monte 
Pulciano in the form of a cross. The blessed Virgin appear¬ 
ed to her on one of the festivals of the Assumption, with the 
child Jesus in her arms, whom she permitted to embrace , and, 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


305 


press to her breast. At her departure , she left the saint a cross , 
which the child Jesus wore about his neclc. We shall take 
notice of the rose that appeared in the middle of winter, in a little 
dish \yhich this female saint served up to two hermits; but we 
cannot forbear mentioning the advances, in point of complais¬ 
ance, which she made after her decease to St. Catherine of 
Sienna, who went to pay her a visit at her sepulchre: whilst 
the living saint was stooping down to kiss the feet of the dead 
one, the latter, through an excess of humility, lifted up her foot, 
and touched the other’s lips. 

St. Bonaventure, the celebrated author of the “ Psalter of 
our Lady,” which was printed in 1665, not being able to take 
the sacrament in the usual way, through a violent indisposi¬ 
tion in his stomach, had the holy pyx placed upon his breast, 
and the sacred wafer instantly penetrated that way into his 
very bowels, in order to become the life of his soul. 

St. Ignatius, who was given over by the physicians, was 
visited by St. Peter, who by a touch with his hands wrought on 
him a miraculous cure. After that, the blessed Virgin paid 
him a visit, and made him a present at the same time of a ce¬ 
lestial ointment, called the “ Balm of Chastity.” When he 
was upon his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he determined to visit 
the Mount of Olives, and Christ himself condescended to be 
his guide. He cured persons afflicted with the falling sick¬ 
ness, cast the devils out.of such as were possessed, and reco¬ 
vered several by permitting them to touch the hem of his gar¬ 
ment. To conclude, the number of miracles which are said to 
be wrought by him, amount to two hundred, or thereabouts. 

St. Clare was in such esteem with God , that without the least 
difficulty she obtained whatever she ashed. From her very 
infancy, there appeared in her surprising signs of her future 
sanctity: instead of playing like other children, she did no¬ 
thing but pray, fast, and give alms, in her early years. All the 
saints indeed, as appears by their lives, have begun with these 
general practices of devotion; but from her very infancy St. 
Clare went farther, and wore a hair-cloth to mortify the flesh, 
and to put a stop to all irregular passions. She was very sel¬ 
dom alone in the heat of her pious exercises. A very beauti¬ 
ful child, with two radiant wings, flew into her lap one day, 
and clasping her with them, carressed her with many fond en¬ 
dearments. At another time, although she was indisposed, 
and unable to go to matins, yet she heard distinctly the office, 
which was sung at a church some considerable distance from 
the monastery, and what is most surprising , she was so happy 
as to see the young child Jesus lying in his manger. In her 

•26 # 


306 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


dying moments, Jesus was seen near her, accompanied by 
several virgins crowned with flowers. One of them in par¬ 
ticular, who wore a close crown more radiant than the sun , drew 
near and embraced her ; the rest spread a carpet of inestima¬ 
ble value over her body. The daughters of this holy mother, 
especially the nuns of the Ave Maria , inherited her austeri¬ 
ties and virtues, though they did not attain the gift of miracles. 

St. Barbara, accompanied by two angels, gave the commu¬ 
nion to the little blessed Stanislaus Kostca , who lay danger¬ 
ously ill in a family who were heretics, and would not permit 
the holy sacrament to come into their house. He held many 
conversations with the Virgin Mary, “ his lady, his mistress, 
and his good motherand a great number of miracles were 
wrought by his mediation after his death. When he died, the 
Virgin Mary, accompanied by several other blessed virgins, 
came to conduct him to heaven. Devils quitted the bodies they 
had been tormenting at the very name of Stanislaus. He re¬ 
stored as many persons to life as he was years old, though he 
lived to the age of nineteen, and this extraordinary miracle was 
thought so easy for him to perform, that it grew into a proverb 
in Poland: “ Let us go,” said the people, “ to the blessed Stan¬ 
islaus, who raises the dead.” The application of this young 
saint’s image, cured a young Jesuit of fourteen years of age at 
Lima, in the year 1673, but upon this condition, that he should 
say a Pater Nosier , and an Ave Maria , every day of his life, 
in honour of the little Polish saint; and that, on the eve of his 
festival, he should live upon bread and water, and once per¬ 
form the spiritual exercises of Saint Ignatius, to the honour and 
glory of his blessed son Stanislaus. All such as were afflicted 
with palpitations, swellings, broken limbs, sore-eyes, fevers, &c. 
were confidently assured that a little wine in which one of the 
saint’s bones had been steeped, was an infallible remedy for 
such distempers and accidents. 

St. Roche, the patron and protector of such as are infected 
with the plague, distinguished himself by several remarkable 
cures. The dog that is usually painted lying by him charita¬ 
bly fed the saint, at a time when the pestilence was outrageous. 

The blessed St. Clare of Montefalco had the figure of Christ 
upon the cross, and all the instruments of his passion, engra¬ 
ved upon her heart. Her repeated declarations of this miracle 
to the nuns of her convent, made them curious to see if it were 
true, and after her death they divided her heart, and were con¬ 
vinced of the truth of her assertion. 

St. Bridget raised ten persons, that were dead, to life. St. 
Theresa appeared, after her death, (which was occasioned by 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


307 


an excess of divine love,) to several persons, to inform them of 
the high degree of glory to which she was exalted. We shall 
omit her wondrous visions, and the love-wound made in her 
heart by a seraph, with a golden arrow pointed with red hot 
steel. 

St. Didacus cured several diseased persons, with the oil of a 
lamp which burnt before an image of “ Our Lady.” One day, 
having no provisions, on a journey he was making with one 
of his companions to his convent, he prayed to God to support 
them in their distress, and instantly they found a table spread 
before them upon the grass, and the entertainment, “ though 
not elegant, was very wholesome and refreshing!” 

St. Xaverius raised several to life during 1 his mission in the 
East Indies. Being in the neighbourhood of Amboyna, he 
calmed a raging tempest by plunging his crucifix into the sea. 
In the eagerness of the action, his crucifix slipped out of his 
hand, but an officious fish miraculously restored it to him in a 
moment, and on giving it, took care to hold it upright, to de¬ 
note the triumph of the cross over the infidels ! 

St. Thomas a Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, was amply 
rewarded for the violent death he suffered, by the numerous 
miracles he wrought afterwards, and which, if we may believe 
father Giry, he still continues to perform: no sooner was this 
saint buried, than he declared himself the physician of a mul¬ 
titude of sick persons. It is very remarkable, that the saints 
of the latter ages go far beyond those of the apostles’ days in 
raising the dead to life. N 

The blessed St. Rosa was under five years old when she 
consecrated herself to God. Father Oliva observes, in his eu- 
logium on this saint, that mankind had an infinite loss in God’s 
not creating Rosa in the terrestrial paradise instead of Eve!— 
Her ambition to suffer made her ingenious in searching out 
the means of mortifying herself. This pious maid would fre¬ 
quently rub her cheeks and eyes with the bark and powder of 
Indian pepper, to prevent her from going to balls, or appear¬ 
ing in company : for the sharpness of the pepper made her 
face all bloated and full of ulcers. Rosa had the glory, more¬ 
over, of finding out fresh methods of mortification every day, 
and of reproaching nature perpetually with the enormous crime 
of having made her so handsome. It is certain, that nothing 
is so shocking and insupportable to saints of a mystical con¬ 
stitution, as corporeal beauty, which they relinquish to the 
devil, together with all other sensual enjoyments. 

The blessed Rosa, like Jesus Christ, multiplied loaves, 
and she mirnculousjy replenished an empty vessel to comfort 


308 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


her mother, who was sick, with celestial honey. Her voca¬ 
tion, or call, has no parallel instance in the history of the saints. 
As she was passing by the church of St. Dominic, for whom 
she ever had a particular esteem, she found herself inspired to 
go in, and pay her last respects to the image of Our Lady of 
the Rosary. No sooner was she on her knees, than she re¬ 
mained immoveable, and nailed, as it were, to the ground. 
Astonished at so extraordinary a prodigy, she promised the 
blessed Virgin to become a nun of the third order of St. Domi¬ 
nic ; and, as soon as she had finished her prayer, she, without 
the least difficulty, accomplished that in a moment, which she 
had not been able to do in several hours before with great and 
repeated efforts. 

Rosa, at her commencing a new life, thought it a duty in¬ 
cumbent upon her to invent new austerities. She tied a great 
chain thrice round her waist; and having put a padlock upon 
it, she threw the key into a well. She long bore with patience 
the pains which this chain gave her, but at length was obliged 
to seek relief, and, human means failing, she made her appli¬ 
cations to the Blessed Virgin, who immediately opened the 
lock. The blessed Rosa thinking her lodgings at her mo¬ 
ther’s too commodious, determined to build herself a sorry hut 
at the end of the garden. She was soon attacked by a whole 
army of gnats ; and as they interrupted her contemplations, 
she thought proper to make a truce with them upon the follow¬ 
ing conditions:—The gnats were allowed to shelter them¬ 
selves in the cell ‘during excessive heat or cold; and they 
stipulated on their side never to incommode her more, and 
even to withdraw, whenever she found them in any way of¬ 
fensive. We cannot forbear observing, that the largest trees 
in the garden, when Rosa passed by them to her cell, bent 
down their branches, and their trunks also, as a testimony of 
their profound veneration. 

The Church calls the holy Virgin in her litanies, the Mo¬ 
ther of God, the Queen of Angels, the Refuge of Sinners, the 
Mother of Mercy, the Gate of Heaven, the 

toThe^Blessed !% stic Rose, the Virgin of Virgins, &c. There 
Virgin. is no title of honour, which some divines of the 
Church, and particularly modern ones, have not 
bestowed on the Virgin Mary. Having robbed paganism of 
every thing that was most magnificent and glaring, to bestow 
it on the mother of Jesus Christ, they have continued to in¬ 
vent such splendid names, as even the most fruitful imagina¬ 
tion of the poets was never capable of devising. The heresies 
against her, insensibly produced an excess of reverence and 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


309 


devotion to her. In the earliest ages of the Church, she was 
called Queen of Angels, and Mother of God; afterwards the 
controversies which arose on her account, made her advocates 
advance every thing they could think of to make her consi¬ 
derable against heretics. She has been looked upon as the 
disposer and depositary of God’s favours, the Treasurer and 
even Queen of Heaven, the Spring and Fountain of salvation 
and life, the Gate of Paradise, the Mother of Light, and In¬ 
tercessor between God and Man ; the Hope of Mankind, and 
the Ocean of the Deity. Some authors have styled her “ God¬ 
dessand Father Salazar, about the end of the sixteenth 
century, declared her the Accomplishment of the Trinity. 
The Psalter, and indeed the whole Bible, had been applied to 
her long before that declaration ; and it has been proved both 
by miracles and apparitions, that the blessed Virgin appeases 
the wrath of Christ against sinners; and that she has the 
power of absolving, binding, and loosening. 

Whoever hopes to draw down the blessings of the Virgin 
upon him, must salute her every day both at his going out 
and coming in. The legends have transmitted to us several 
remarkable instances of the advantages arising from the Ave 
Maria ; not to mention the thousand days’ indulgences grant¬ 
ed by several popes, particularly Leo X. and Paul V., to all 
those who shall repeat it at the hour of the Angelas. Christ¬ 
ians, however, are not so exact in the practice of this sort of 
devotion as to imitate St. Marguerite of Hungary, who said an 
Ave kneeling, before every image of the Virgin which she 
met with on her way; nor St. Catherine of Sienna, who re¬ 
peated as many Aves as she went up steps to her house. 
Fasting on Saturday, in honour of the Virgin Mary, is still 
looked upon, in Catholic countries, as a treasure of indulgences 
and delights, and as an excellent preservative against eternal 
damnation. 

The greatest part of the holy and immaculate Virgin's 
hair has been preserved ; and, as to her milk , the good Catho¬ 
lics tell us that not one drop of it was ever lost;. R e p cso f t j ie 
innumerable relics having been made of it im- Blessed Vir- 
mediately after our Saviour’s nativity. A por- gin. 
tion of it is to be seen in different parts of Christ¬ 
endom ; and that church or monastery which is in possession 
of such an invaluable relic, considers itself as peculiarly 
blessed. Our lady’s iced ding-ring is preserved w T ith the ut¬ 
most respect at Perouse; the fate and miracles of which are 
all described in a book published in the beginning of the se¬ 
venteenth century, entitled, De Annulo Pronubo Deipara Vir * 


310 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


ginis, autore J. Bapt. Lauro. Colon. 1626. The Blessed 
Virgin’s clothes are to be seen at Rome, and several other 
places; her shifts at Chartres and Aix-la-Chapelle; one of 
her handkerchiefs at Treves; her girdles at our Lady of 
Montserrat at Prato, &c. one of her combs at Rome, another 
at Bezancon; her shoes at our Lady of Puy and St. Flour; 
and one of her slippers in Brittany. The measure of her foot 
is in the custody of the Spaniards. To conclude, it is not to 
be questioned, but that all the various pieces of her goods, 
kitchen-furniture, toilette, and implements of household, have 
been carefully preserved; her gloves, head-clothes, veils, bed, 
chair, and the stones on which she washed our Lord’s swad¬ 
dling-clothes; her candles, the oil for her lamp, and all her 
earthen-ware, are still exposed to public view. It is true, in¬ 
deed, that these things were lost for several ages; but the 
monks have had the good fortune to find them one after an¬ 
other. No relic of her sacred body has been left upon earth; 
it having been taken up to heaven in its perfect form, without 
injury or mutilation. 

The jubilee, as to its origin, is half Jewish, half pagan. 
That joyful season procured liberty among the Jews to those 

The Jubilee w ^ 0 were s ^ aves 5 an acquittance from their 
debts to those who were poor, and the recovery 
of their effects to those who, through necessity, had been 
obliged to pawn them. The ground itself was not cultivated 
during the year of the Jewish jubilee. The pope, by the Catholic 
jubilee, of which the former was but a type, grants the like pri¬ 
vileges to Christians. It is a year of rest to them; for his ho¬ 
liness absolves them from sin, relieves the spiritual poverty of 
the penitent, by opening the treasures of the divine mercy to 
him, remits his debts, and restores him to the possession of 
his celestial effects. 

Pope Boniface VIII. upon his institution of the grand Ju¬ 
bilee, expressly declared by his Bull, that “ Those who should 
visit the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in the year 1300, 
and every hundred years afterwards, after a free confession 
and sincere repentance of their sins, should obtain a full re¬ 
mission, together with several indulgences, as extensive as it 
was possible to grant them to repenting sinners.” “ It does not 
appear,” says M. Turtin, “that his holiness had any regard to 
the Jubilee of the Jews, since he not only declined the name 
of jubilee, but on the contrary, doubled the time prescribed to 
them.” But with Clement VI. the case was different. This 
pope called that institution “ the Jubilee,” and ordered it to be 
celebrated every fifty years. 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


811 


Several Roman Catholic writers are of opinion, that the ju¬ 
bilee of the Christians bears a very near affinity to the secu¬ 
lar games of the ancient Romans. 

Clement VI. ordered the jubilee to be celebrated twice in a 
hundred years. Urban VI. reduced the term to thirty-three 
years. Boniface IX. solemnized it nine years after; and in 
process of time, a bull of Sixtus IV. established it once in 
twenty-five years. His predecessor Paul II. had before fixed 
it by a decree of the year 1470, to the same time. Sixtus IV. 
however celebrated a jubilee in 1475, and Alexander VI. not 
contented with the solemnization of it in 1498, revived it in 
1500. 

The decrees of Paul II. and Sixtus IV., however, do not 
hinder the popes from declaring a universal jubilee on their 
exaltation to the pontificate, as well as on some other extra¬ 
ordinary occasions. The holy gates, however, are never open¬ 
ed but for the twenty-fifth year’s jubilee, which, if we may be 
allowed the expression, brings with it a universal indulgence; 
for “ the hearts of the faithful are comforted thereby, and joy 
entereth into the house of the Lord.” 

The jubilee grants to those confessors who are approved by 
their superiors, a power to absolve in all reserved cases, also 
from all censures, and the greater excommunication; to annul 
all suspensions relating both to benefices and ecclesiastical of¬ 
fices, and to take off interdicts. It permits them likewise to 
alter vows, in case they have no relation to religion or to chas¬ 
tity ; or that they are not of the nature of those which en¬ 
gage to perform certain pilgrimages, such as those to Rome, 
Jerusalem, and St. James of Galicia. 

When his holiness has appointed the Jubilee, he gives no¬ 
tice of it, by his apostolic letters, to all the prelates through¬ 
out Christendom; and these cause it to be published in their 
respective dioceses, with proper exhortations, in order that the 
faithful may put themselves into a condition of obtaining those 
advantages which attend it. The intentions of the holy father 
are explained ; those churches which are to be visited are no¬ 
minated ; certain acts of devotion, which are always attended 
with proper indulgences, are prescribed; and proper litanies, 
and prayers peculiar to the solemn occasion of the jubilee, and 
to the subject which procures it, are caused to be printed. No 
society, no religious order, must absent itself from the proces¬ 
sions which are ordered for celebrating this act of devotion. 
The people, with their magistrates, and the rest of their supe¬ 
riors, are invited to attend it with all the modesty required by 
an act of religion, On those days which are set apart for 


312 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


fasting and repentance, the bishop and his clergy are enjoined 
to appear overwhelmed with sorrow, and filled with sentiments 
of humiliation. They are to pray with heart and mouth to 
the Almighty, and to offer him the fruits of a sincere contri¬ 
tion, which consists in the renunciation of all those engage¬ 
ments by which men are in general devoted to the world, and 
in a strong resolution to instruct the people by their own pious 
example. 

The pope notifies the universal jubilee, by a bull which he 
causes to be published the preceding year, on Ascension-day, 
at the time of his giving the solemn benediction. An aposto¬ 
lical sub-deacon begins the publication, in the presence of the 
whole Court of Rome, reading a bull in Latin ; and after him, 
another sub-deacon reads it with an audible voice to the peo¬ 
ple in Italian. As soon as he had finished, the pope’s twelve 
trumpets in ordinary begin to sound, and immediately after 
them, twelve huntsmen sound their silver, horns, by way of 
concert, at the same time that the whole of the artillery of the 
castle of St. Angelo are discharged. 

On the fourth Sunday in Advent, the apostolical sub-deacons 
publish the bull for the jubilee a second time, and on the three 
days which immediately precede Christmas-day, the bells 
throughout the whole city proclaim the solemnity, which is to 
commence the next day. 

On the twenty-fourth day of December, of the holy year, 
all the secular and regular clergy assemble together at the 
apostolic palace, and thence march in procession to St. Peter’s 
at the Vatican. When the clergy come into the great square 
before St. Peter’s, they find the doors of the church shut, and 
all the entrances of the portico lined with guards, to hin¬ 
der the mob from getting in. The pope, the cardinals, and 
bishops, dressed in their white damask robes, having their 
mitres on, now meet in Sixtus’s Chapel, at which place his 
holiness signs the Veni Creator, with a lighted taper in his 
hand. All the cardinals, having each of them likewise a ta¬ 
per in their hands, come out, according to their respective rank, 
and repair to the Swiss portico, where the holy father nomi¬ 
nates three of them as his legates a latere , to go and open the 
gates of St. John de Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul 
without the walls. Their eminences having received the or¬ 
ders of his holiness on their knees, repair to the appointed 
churches, preceded by trumpets, hautboys, and a troop of men, 
hah in warlike, and half in religious armour. Their march 
begins as soon as the pope has opened the holv gate at St. 
Peter’s 



Pope knocking at the Sacred Gate. p. 313. 



Absolution of pilgrims by touching them with a rod. p. 311 


















































































































































































































































































































































































ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


«■> 1 n 
G 1 O 

The chief of the Roman soldiery has the charge of this ho¬ 
ly gate, which is always opened by his holiness himself, unless 
the infirmities of age, or some other particular indisposition 
renders him incapable; in which case, the cardinal-dean offi¬ 
ciates for him. 

The Vicar of Jesus Christ, being seated on a throne, 
which is raised before the great gate, and in the 
middle of the great portico of St. Peter’s, rests , Opening of 
himself for a short time there; after which the Gate. U 
prince of the throne presents him with a golden 
hammer, which the holy father takes into his right hand ; then 
rising from his throne, he goes and knocks at the sacred gate. 
The sacred gates are representations of God’s grace. The 
passage of the pilgrims through them denotes the Christian’s 
passage from the state of sin to that of grace. All those who 
perform the duties appointed by his holiness, in the four Ba¬ 
silicas at Rome, must pass through these holy gates. It is 
likewise pretended, that the opening of these gates represents 
the opening of the Church unto all men, provided they go to it 
after a sincere conversion. The holy father opens the gate, 
which signifies his having the key of the celestial treasures. 
The three blows upon the gate represent the three quarters of 
the world, Europe, Africa, and Asia, to which his holiness of¬ 
fers the treasures which are in his disposal; or it may be said, 
that the three strokes with the hammer are an excellent repre¬ 
sentation of that joy, which the jubilee gives to the faithful in 
heaven, on earth, and in purgatory. 

The pope is followed by his clergy with tapers in their hands, 
and, knocking thrice against the gate, says with an audible 
voice, Aperite viihi portas justitice ,— Open unto me these gates 
of justice; to which the choir add, “ This is the gate of the 
eternal, the just shall enter therein,” &c. In the mean time, 
the head masons break down the wall which closes up the 
sacred gate, and the rubbish of it is distributed amongst the 
devotees, who pick it up with all imaginable zeal and eager¬ 
ness, in order to rank it amongst their precious relics. This 
wall is erected on purpose, in such a manner as to hold but 
very slightly by its four sides. The stones are not fastened 
with cement, on which account, as soon as the holy father 
knocks at the sacred gate, it falls without any resistance. 

When the wall is demolished, the penitentiaries of St. Pe¬ 
ter take their brooms, clear the gate, and sweep the bricks and 
the lime that remain, out of the passage. The mouldings, as 
well as other decorations round the gate, are now washed 
with holv water. When this operation is over, his holiness 

27 


314 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


descends from his throne, and begins this anthem, “ Han dies 
quam fecit Dominus ,— This is the day which the Lord hath 
made? Spc. which the choir repeats after him. Being- arrived 
at the sacred gate, the holy father repeats several prayers, takes 
the cross, kneels down before the gate, begins the Te Deum , 
rises up, and passes through it, still singing as he goes along. 
His clergy follow him. Every body now hurries into the 
church, either to witness the magnificent ceremony, or to as¬ 
sist at the vespers in the pope’s chapel. After vespers, the 
cardinals pull off their white robes, put on their red copes, 
attend his holiness to the door of his apartment, and then with¬ 
draw. On Christmas-day, after the mass of the day, the holy 
father goes to the benediction-pew, and blesses the faithful by 
way of jubilee. 

The jubilee having lasted a year, concludes with shutting 
up the sacred gates, which is done on Christmas-Eve, twelve 

Shutting of mon ^ ls a f ter they were first opened. On that 
the Sacred day t^ ie pope, his cardinals, the clergy, and the 

Gate. persons of the highest distinction in the court of 

Rome, go to St. Peter’s in their robes of state. 
Vespers are said; after which the clergy, having lighted 
tapers in their hands, offer their obeisance to the holy face , 
which is known by the name of Veronica. Then his holi¬ 
ness sings an anthem, which begins with these words, Cum 
jucumditate exhibitis ,.— Ye shall go out with joy. As soon 
as it is begun, every one uses the utmost expedition to get 
through the holy gate. The holy father, when every body 
has gone through it, goes up to it, and turning towards it, 
says, Adjutorium, —Our help, Sfc. together with some 
other prayers, in which he blesses the stones and mortar 
which are intended to shut the gate, which the jubilee had 
opened. The pope himself lays the first stone, under which 
several medals are concealed, which serve to transmit the 
memory of this pious ceremony to future times. 

The holy father having laid the stone, washes his hands, 
and returns to his throne; then Salvum fac populum, — Lord 
save thy people , Spc. is sung. In the mean time, the masons 
complete the walling up of the gate, in the midst of which 
they set a copper cross, whilst his holiness repeats some par¬ 
ticular prayers, which he continues till the breach is perfectly 
repaired. The benediction given by the Vicar of Jesus 
Christ from the pew (which thence takes its name of the 
Benediction Pew ) to the faithful, assembled to receive it, con¬ 
cludes this piece of devotion. The cardinals and clergy then 
throw off their robes of state, return with the pope to his 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


315 


apartment, and his holiness entertains them with an elegant 
supper. 

Indulgences are the surest touchstones, of which his holi¬ 
ness can make use, to try the faith of true believers; for a great 
number of devotees imagine that they infallibly ,,, 
secure the attainment of Paradise. The origin u u genees. 
of indulgences is hinted at in a passage of St. Cyprian; but 
the release from torments was not known by the name of indul¬ 
gence, till a long time after. It was common enough howe¬ 
ver, in the seventh and eighth centuries. Pope Sergius, in the 
year 884, gave three indulgences of forty days each, to those 
who should visit the church of St. Martin on the Hills, on the 
festival peculiarly devoted to the service of that saint. 

Indulgences were originally no more than the softening of 
pains, imposed upon sinners condemned to penance, which in 
the primitive ages of Christianity were very severe. The 
Church had regard to the infirmities of penitents, who could 
not undergo the rigour of them; but they were at the same 
time to discover a real contrition, and with a perfect sincerity 
endeavor to purify themselves from their crimes, according to 
their strength. A relaxation from ecclesiastical pains gradu¬ 
ally introduced into devotion certain practices, seemingly 
difficult, but yet much easier than spiritual worship; and 
nothing gave a greater scope to the abuse of indulgences than 
the commutation of pains into pecuniary fines, which were 
greatly advantageous to the priests, and showed them the way 
of selling the remission of sins. St. Bernard, whilst preach¬ 
ing up the indulgences of Pope Eugenius III., at once in¬ 
flamed the hearts of the believers of his age, with a spirit of 
war and contrition, and showed them that the atonement of 
their crimes, and the remission of their torments, were annexed 
to those crosses and swords, wherewith he persuaded them to 
arm themselves against the infidels. 

St. Bridget declares, in her Revelations, that in a vision 
wffiich she had of the Lord Jesus Christ, he informed her, 

“ That the most infallible way to atone for all her sins, was to 
•procure, indulgences; that, with respect to himself, whenever 
he was inclined to treat any soul with tenderness and affection, 
he would advise it to reside constantly at Rome, there being 
no place in the world where so many indulgences could be 
procured. Indeed, there is no city more commodious than 
Rome, for devotees wffio would turn their piety towards this 
object; for its basilicas have indulgences for every day in the 
year; and on festivals they are redoubled. 

Indulgences were at one time granted for all kinds of sins 


316 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


and crimes, the prices of which were rated, and the remission 
often set up to auction. A malefactor in Italy might, for 
ninety livres , compound for a crime, for which, on the other 
side of the Alps, he would be hanged or burnt. The applica¬ 
tion for indulgences was either by the payment of ready 
money, or by saying, or causing to be said, certain masses; 
by assisting at certain offices, and certain processions; by con¬ 
fessing and receiving the Eucharist; by alms-giving, or wear¬ 
ing particular habits, crosses, chaplets, crowns, beads, &c. 

Pope Leo X. having undertaking to complete the magnifi¬ 
cent edifice of the Basilica of St. Peter, according to the 
example of Pope Julius, had recourse to indulgences, which 
he every where published; and all those who should contri¬ 
bute what was demanded of them towards the erection of St. 
Peter’s, were permitted to eat eggs and cheese in Lent, and to 
make choice of their own confessor. In order to come into 
possession of ready money, the sums arising from these indul¬ 
gences, were farmed out to the highest bidders, who, not only 
for the purpose of reimbursing, but likewise of enriching 
themselves, chose such preachers of indulgences, and collect¬ 
ors, as they thought most proper. These were well paid to, 
induce the people, in order to procure pardon, to contribute 
whatever such covetous and sacrilegious wretches insisted 
upon. Some of these preachers of indulgences raised the price 
and value of them to such an exorbitant pitch, as to induce 
the people to imagine that they were secure of salvation, and 
of delivering souls out of purgatory, as soon as they had paid 
the money demanded for the letters, testifying they had pro¬ 
cured the indulgence. The clerks of the farmers, likewise, 
who had purchased the profits of these indulgences, were 
seen daily in the taverns and brothels, carousing, and spend¬ 
ing part of that money in all manner of licentiousness, which 
the poor insisted was barbarously extorted from them. 

We shall now treat of beads, chaplets, rosaries, and other 
accessaries to devotion. The historians of the Crusade wars 
say that Peter the Hermit first taught the soldiers 
t0 count ^eir prayers by the chaplet; the use 
piety. of which soon grew very common. But Fa¬ 

ther Giry gives some instances of prayers being 
said by tale or computation, long before the invention of the 
chaplet; and Ryckle, in his life of Gertrude, gives us an ac¬ 
count of a rosary which this saint made use of at her devo¬ 
tions, in the seventh century. Saint Dominic, the founder of 
the order which bears his name, and of the holv office of the 
Inquisition, greatly advanced the credit of this instrument of 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


317 

devotion, by declaring, that the blessed Virgin had brought 
him one from heaven, after a miraculous manner, composed 
of a certain number of beads, which he called the rosary. It 
is still looked upon as one of the most valuable exercises of 
devotion by a great number of Catholics; with regard to the 
chaplet, it is not to be questioned but that it came from the 
Mahometans. Peter the Hermit borrowed it from them, in 
favour of those soldiers of the Holy Wars, who were not able 
to read, nor to make use of a prayer-book. 

These and other instruments, or assistants to devotion, were 
the foundation of four considerable societies. That of the ro¬ 
sary owes its birth to the rosary of St. Dominic. 

The rosary is a large chaplet, consisting of one osai y- 
hundred and fifty beads, which make so many Aves. Every 
ten beads, divided by one something larger, make a Pater. 
The fifteen large beads are the symbols of fifteen mysteries, 
which are so many lively images, as it were, in which are to 
be discerned the intentions of “the Eternal Father in the 
temporal birth of his son, the casualities that befel him in his 
infancy, and not only in the private and unknown part of his 
life ; but also in the glorious and immortal part of it.” The 
common chaplets contain only fifty Ave Marias and five Pa¬ 
ternosters. Before the person begins to repeat his rosary, he 
must take it, and cross himself. He must in the next place 
repeat the apostles’ creed, to put himself into a proper disposi¬ 
tion for prayer; after which, he must say a Pater and three 
Aves, on account of the three relations which the Blessed Vir¬ 
gin bears to the three Persons in the sacred Trinity. 

After these preliminaries, he passes on to the fifteen large 
beads, containing ten courses. The Christian devotee must 
observe to admit himself into the mysteries of each ten courses, 
by a prayer, which is to be found in those books which treat 
of the method of devotion with the rosary. The fifteen mys¬ 
teries are divided into three classes : the first includes the five 
mysteries of joy; the five next are those of sorrow , as turning 
upon our Saviour’s Passion; and the five last, those of glory , 
as being destined to his resurrection, ascension, &c. After 
the rosary, the brethren who have the honour to bear the 
name of it, must say the litanies and prayers for those who are 
afflicted in mind, body, or estate, &c. They must lift up their 
hearts to the Virgin, who is the Queen of the Rosary , Em¬ 
press of Heaven and Earth , High Treasurer of the Spiritual 
Finances and Celestial Riches: and as the true believers 
ought not only to pray for each other, but likewise for an in¬ 
crease of the worship of which they make profession; the 
27 * 


318 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


brethren and sisters of the rosary must never omit this last ar¬ 
ticle, but use their utmost endeavours to make proselytes to 
the faith of St. Dominic. 

The legendaries of the order of St. Dominic, and several 
others, assure us, that the society was appointed by an order 
from the Blessed Virgin, when St. Dominic was labouring to 
reduce the Albigenses, and extirpate heretics. After the 
saint’s decease, the devotion of the rosary was totally neglected ; 
but Alanus de Rupe, in 1460, or thereabouts, revived it with 
great improvements, and for fifteen years together, used his 
utmost endeavours to procure devotees to it. The society is 
divided into two branches, one of the common, and the other 
of the perpetual rosary : the former are obliged every week, 
to say the fifteen divisions of ten beads each, to confess, and 
receive the Sacrament every first Sunday in the month ; and 
moreover, to appear at all the processions of the society. The 
faithful of the latter are under very strong obligations. The 
first duty incumbent on them is, to repeat the rosary without 
intermission ; that is, there is always some one of them who 
is actually saluting the Blessed Virgin in the name of the 
whole society. 

The solemnity of the rosary is celebrated on the first Sun¬ 
day in October. This festival is owing to the piety of Pope 
Gregory XIII. Several popes have confirmed the wav of 
praying with the rosary by their bulls, and granted to those 
who shall devoutly repeat it, all suitable indulgences, not only 
plenary, but particular. 

The devotion of the scapulary is, in every respect, as exact 
as that which we have already described. After divers pray¬ 
ers, and pious solicitations, the Blessed Virgin 

capu aiy. g. rantec j t } le scapulary to Simon Stoch, comman¬ 
der of the Carmelites, in the same century, and much about 
the same time that she gave the rosary to St. Dominic. She 
assured the devotee of her protection, promised to be propi¬ 
tious to all those who should join in the devotion of the sca¬ 
pulary, and to look upon them as her children. She also 
engaged to save all those, who at the hour of death should be 
found provided with so precious a badge. 

The scapulary of the Carmelites is a small woollen garment, 
of a dark brown, or tawny colour, which goes over the sto¬ 
mach, back, and shoulders. It consists likewise of two small 
pieces of cloth, three or four inches square, tied together with 
two ribands. This is what the brethren of the Order of the 
Scapulary wear. 

The devotees of the scapulary celebrate the sixteenth of .Til- 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 310 

ly as their festival, which day is likewise devoted to the service 
of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. 

There is nothing which flatters the heart of man more than 
what is called good works , since they are looked on by him as 
a formal contract, or, as it were, a truce between 
his passions and the duties of his religion. A Foundations 
certain satirist has observed, “That a devotee re¬ 
fuses to pay his debts, though he says his prayers; that he 
plunders his neighbour, though he gives the tenth to the 
poor ; that he ruins honest families, whilst he is building hos¬ 
pitals ; in short, that religion, with the devotee, is the counter¬ 
poise of justice.” The clergy have always taken advantage 
of this vanity and self-love, under the specious pretence of 
showing Christians the road to heaven; but, above all, they 
have attempted to pave the way to it by foundations, which 
began in the fourth or fifth century, but the mode of which 
was not entirely established till the sixth. Nothing was at 
that time to be seen, but people of all ages, sexes, and condi¬ 
tions, renouncing their worldly possessions for the endowment 
of churches and convents. New practices of humility sprang 
up on ail sides; for the devotees grew dissatisfied with vigils, 
which to them appeared too weak. The priests and monks 
had visions, which enabled them to enter into an immediate 
correspondence with the saints of Paradise. Measures of a 
more strong and strenuous kind were taken against the devil, 
who then began to grow formidable. Several cro'sses w T ere 
dug up, and relics were found, which till that time had neither 
been known nor heard of; even some of the mouths of hell, 
and two or three of the doors of purgatory, were likewise dis ¬ 
covered. The maps of the monks precisely pointed out their 
height and depth. Nor was this discovery the least valuable 
and important of the age; a prodigious number of souls got 
out of purgatory, and some of the damned escaped out of hell. 
Those who had any regard for their relations immediately 
took care of them, and new methods were in consequence in¬ 
vented, for alleviating the sorrows of those deceased persons 
who had their friends to appear for them. 

Masses were multiplied, and one sacrifice being now insuf¬ 
ficient, a necessity arose not only for ten, twenty, or thirty, 
but sometimes for thirty thousand. The sovereigns of the 
Church created new patrons. Altars and churches were 
founded without number. Swarms of monks and friars over¬ 
spread the face of the whole earth; and this, they asserted, 
was all the work of God. Habitations were assigned and 
revenues appointed them, which were very largely augmented 


320 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


by the benefactions of pious individuals. We may easily con¬ 
ceive, that convents increased with devotion, and that those 
who had devoted their patrimonies to the service of the Church, 
found no other refuse than that of the cassoc or the veil; in 
short, a strong persuasion at that*time prevailed, that God 
could not be served with decorum and propriety but by priests 
and friars; and nothing, indeed, was to be seen but cassocs, 
cowls, tonsures, crowns, vows of continence and chastity; 
voluntary divorces between husband and wife, upon a motive 
of piety, and with the intent to retire from the world, that they 
might pray to God at their ease in the society of monks and 
hermits. 

Independently of the foundations of churches, convents, and 
masses, others were instituted for exposing or carrying the 
holy sacrament in procession, on those days which are not 
set apart by the Church for such a purpose; also, for making 
some particular day more famous than it originally was, ac¬ 
cording to the institution of the Church. Such is the founda¬ 
tion on which the holy sacrament is exposed on the festival of 
the patron of a parish, or on the festival-day of the saint whose 
name any person bears, or for whom he has a peculiar re¬ 
spect and veneration. There are likewise other foundations, 
for offices and prayers in honour of the saints, at such times 
as their devotees have received any extraordinary mercies and 
favours from them. 

The faithful, throughout all the ages of the Church, have 
paid great veneration to the relics of saints, and are said fre- 
quently to have received great advantages from 
saints lCS ° them. Ignorant devotees imagine that they need 
only to be devout to some particular relics, to 
carry them about with them, or to frequent places where they 
are deposited, in order to die free from sin. 

The antiquity of the respect for relics has been attempted 
to be proved from the translation of Joseph’s bones, when the 
Jews went out of Egypt. It is certain that under the Old 
Testament, it was thought, as it is now, that whatever has 
touched the body of a saint acquires extraordinary virtues. 
This was the opinion of the primitive Christians, and in¬ 
stances of it are to be met with in the Gospels and the Acts of 
the Apostles; from whence we may infer, that the real body 
of any saint is capable of producing much more miracu¬ 
lous effects. In process of time the consequences of this 
notion of virtue and holiness were carried to a greater extent. 
Some pretended, that it was necessary to collect all those 
things which had been made use of by the saints, to dig up 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


321 


their bodies, and to search after their bones and ashes. Then, 
temples, chapels, and altars, were devoted to their service. 
The very angels concerned themselves in this important 
affair, for they are said to have collected the bones of St. 
Catharine, and buried them upon Mount Sinai. Translations 
of the relics from one place to another, began to be made in 
the fourth century with extraordinary solemnity, and the use 
of shrines for relics began at the same time. 

The church always took care to have the shrines in which 
relics were deposited, solemnly blessed. The purport of the 
prayer was, that God would grant his protection to those who 
reverenced the merits of the saints, and embraced their relics 
with humility, in order that these faithful supplicants might 
be guarded from the power of Satan, from thunder, plague, 
infectious air, wild beasts, and the malicious devices of wicked 
men. 

Oaths were often taken on the relics of the saints ; and the 
oath of the king of the Ramans on the blood of St. Stephen 
at Aix-la-Chapelle, upon his coronation-day, is an instance of 
this religious custom. 

The faithful, who visit relics out of devotion, must touch 
the sacred limbs of the saints with more than common faith. 
There is a stated time for the public exposition of them to the 
devout. The relics of the church of Notre Dame at Aix-la- 
Chapelle, are exposed once in seven years with proclamations, 
one of which we shall here transcribe, that the reader may 
have a more adequate idea of the ceremony. It is as 
follows:— 

“ The head and right arm of St. Cornelius are to be ex¬ 
posed; by whose mediation may the Lord Jesus preserve 
vou from the falling-sickness, and after this life bestow on you 
the kingdom of Heaven. Amen. Paternoster. Ave Maria. 
Credo ” 

The blood of martyrs is preserved in various parts of Christ¬ 
endom, Italy and Rome, in particular, are grown famous 
for the vast quantity that is found in them ; nor 
is this to be wondered at, considering the perse- reli ^ acu 0U3 
cutions of the primitive Christians under the 
Roman emperors. The earth at Rome is said to be stained 
with the blood of the faithful. His holiness makes presents 
of some of this sacred earth to foreigners, thereby endeavour- 
in o- to gratify those good Christians, who come to Rome upon 
a religious motive, and are unwilling to return home without 
some salutary testimonial of their travels. 

As to the miraculous manner in which the blood of mar- 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


322 

tvrs, according to report, has been seen to melt and run, the 
devout flatter themselves that God has been pleased to give 
this satisfaction to all pious persons for their consolation, and 
as a reward of their virtue. There are now at the present 
day, several liquefactions of this nature, particularly in Italy. 
On the festival of St. Eustace, that saint’s blood is seen to boil 
at Rome. The blood of St. John the Baptist does as much, if 
not more, at Naples ; and extends to three different churches. 
It puts itself in this violent ferment in honour of Jesus Christ, 
and seemingly endeavours once more to proclaim the coming 
of our blessed Saviour. At Naples too, St. Bartholomew’s 
blood is in as great a heat as that of St. John the Baptist; and 
so likewise is the blood of St. Stephen, which never fails run¬ 
ning on the day on which the finding of his body is com¬ 
memorated. 

On the eighteenth of September is celebrated the ceremony 
of exposing the head and blood of St. Januarius, patron 
of the city of Naples, to public view. A solemn procession 
is made likewise in honour of the Saint, at which the Martyr’s 
head and blood are carried in all imaginable pomp and grand¬ 
eur. It is so contrived, that these two relics meet together, and 
as soon as they are within reach of each other, the blood is 
seen to liquefy, to boil, and to rise to the very rim of the glass, 
in which it is kept. This miracle is wrought every year, 
never deceiving the expectations of the people, who are 
always ready to attest the truth of it. 

The liquefaction of St. Vitus’s blood, is to be seen in one of 
the abbies of the diocese of Tarentum ; and that of the blood 
of St. Pantaleon, St. Ursula, St. Laurence, and others, in the 
several monasteries and churches throughout. Italy. 

In 1672, Rome raised a recruit of relics from the catacombs 
of four hundred and twenty-eight saints, most of them anony¬ 
mous and unknown ; which, however, afforded abundance of 
new relics. Other recruits of the same sort had been made 
before that time. 

In regard to the manner of distinguishing the relics dug out 
of the catacombs to be genuine,—the apostolic chamber hires 
diggers to work in the catacombs or subterraneous places, in 
which sacred bodies, as they are called at Rome, are com¬ 
monly found. This holy employment is carried on in spring 
and winter. As soon as the sepulchres are opened, an apos¬ 
tolic commissary examines the marks whereby the bodies of 
martyrs are to be known. If there be only the name of 
Christ (thus over these sepulchres, or a single cross, a 
dove, a crown, an olive branch, without a palm-branch, or 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


323 


without a vase of wood, or other vessel, in which the blood of 
the martyrs was usually put, they are looked upon merely as 
so many Christian sepulchres, and in such a case are never 
opened. The vessel for holding blood is, in a particular 
manner, an evident sign of martyrdom, and consequently of 
holiness. TV hen the necessary tokens here mentioned, have 
been observed, they proceed to open the tombs with all the 
precaution which so religious an operation requires. 

As the bones are dug up, they are put into little cases, 
which are afterwards corded up, and sealed with the grand 
vicar’s seal; and then the diggers carry them into the cham¬ 
bers appropriated for relics. The bones are laid upon tables 
at some distance one from the other, in order that, as they 
dry, the air may restore them in some measure to their primi¬ 
tive hardness. After this, the cardinal-vicar and the chief sa¬ 
cristan of his holiness, expose these relics to the veneration of 
the faithful, distributing them as they see proper, and arming 
them with the necessary attestations: relics of the larger size 
are bestowed on none but crowned heads, and persons of the 
first distinction in the church. 

The custom of wearing holy relics by way of devotion, or 
in order to be preserved against casualties, diseases, calamities, 
&c. is very ancient in the church; since St. Gregory Nys- 
sens takes particular notice of a small piece of wood of the 
true cross, which his sister wore on her finger in a ring. 

It is to St. Helena, however, that relics owe the beginning 
of their high reputation ; and yet the cross was at that time 
the only relic really in fashion. That devout princess fore¬ 
seeing, that the finding of the cross would inflame the devo¬ 
tion of all Christians, took but a part of it away with her, and 
left the remainder at Jerusalem to be an object of the pilgrim’s 
devotion. This sacred wood would, by degrees, have been all 
lost, on account of the constant distributions which were made 
of it to devotees; but St. Paulinus assures us, that in his time 
it remained in the same condition: that the faithful were ta¬ 
king away some of it without intermission, but yet they always 
found it whole and entire. 

In process of time, relics of all sorts were worn, but more 
particularly about the neck and on the breast. 

St. Charles Borromeo wore about his neck a tooth of St. 
Satina. Gregory XII. wore one of St. Catharine of Sienna. 
Some ages before that, St. Dunstan having broke his cane 
upon the devil, who appeared to him in the form of a bear, 
had another made much stronger, in which he set a tooth of 
the apostle St. Andrew. 


324 


, ROMAN CATHOLIC CIIURCII. 


Relics were formerly carried in military expeditions, and 
this was an established custom in the time of Theodosius the 
Great. The knight-templars, and soldiers in the crusades, 
carried them a long time after in their expeditions against the 
enemy of the Christian name. Christian kings, when they 
went to war, armed themselves with St. Martin’s cope, and 
caused the shrines of saints to be carried at the head of their 
armies. Du Val de Cernay, the monk, assures us, that, on a 
dangerous expedition, a body of priests and friars, having 
the cross before them, and being supported by relics, after 
singing the Veni Creator, which was their signal, advanced 
against the Albigenses; and that, at the third repetition of a 
particular verse of the hymn, the rebels of the church fled 
from the field of battle! Nor did the Bishop of Cominges 
show less bravery and resolution; for, notwithstanding the 
small number of the faithful who were facing above one hun¬ 
dred thousand Albigenses, he armed himself with the wood of 
the cross, and, getting upon an eminence therewith, blessed the 
soldiers of the Catholic army, who becoming thereby enliven¬ 
ed and inspired, defeated the king of Arragon and his whole 
army. 

Catholic devotion ordains that recourse shall be had to holy 
relics in case of any public calamity. The blood of St. Ja- 
nuarius, set before the flames of Mount Vesuvius, has never 
failed to extinguish them. The miracles wrought by St. Ge¬ 
nevieve, whenever it has been thought proper to carry her in 
procession, are well known at Paris; and if we may credit the 
devotees at Rheims, St. Remi’s handkerchief has had no less 
virtue, at those times when it has been found requisite to pro¬ 
duce it, in order to allay or remove public calamities. 

At Venice, a leg of St. Laurence extinguishes fires. In a 
church of that city, holy water, of great virtue, is made with 
the bone of St. Liberalis. In Sicily, St. Agatha’s veil, carried 
in procession by the clergy of Catanea, puts a stop to the de¬ 
luges of fire of Mount Gibel; and a piece of cotton rubbed 
against this veil, has the same effect. 

The Carthusians at Cologne have the hem of Christ’s gar¬ 
ment, which the woman afflicted with the loss of blood touched, 
in order to be cured. The ladies of that place send wine to 
the Carthusians, to have the relic steeped in it, and drink of it 
upon any emergent occasion. 

Festivals are holidays, or are certain days which the Ca¬ 
tholic Church has set apart for the peculiar service of God, in 

Festivals commemoration of some mystery, or in honour 
of some saint. 





Adoration on Good Friday, p. 347. 



Frocession of the Holy Oils. p. 347 





































































































































































































































































































































































ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


qoin 

In the Catholic Church there are moveable feasts, double 
feasts, half-double , arul single: but the chief difference between 
the several classes, is the greater or less solemnity which is 
used in them. The churches are embellished, and the altars 
adorned, according to the solemnity of the day; and to the 
rank which each saint holds in the church. On solemn 
double feasts, the bishop, and even the pope himself, performs 
divine service in the cathedral; and the abbot, the prior, or 
dean of the chapter, in collegiate churches. According to the 
rituals of Italy, the churches, on these high festivals, must be 
hung with tapestry, and adorned with beautiful and holy 
images of those whom the church acknowledges as saints. 
The doors of the churches must be adorned with festoons; 
and the image of the saint whose feast is solemnized, must be 
decorated with flowers, and the church strewed with them. 
The church must, likewise, be open to all during the sacred 
days; wax-tapers must burnon the altar; the ornaments of 
the officiating priest must be as rich as possible ; and the ta¬ 
pers which stand on the high altar must be thicker than the 
rest. In short, each parish displays its zeal, in proportion to 
its riches. 

Whenever the feast of the titular saint, or patron, is cele¬ 
brated, his standard and image must be fixed on the top of the 
church spire, and the bells set a ringing to his honour. In 
some places it is customary to have illuminations on the eve 
and feast of the saint, as a testimony of the love and reverence 
of the priests and people. 

All the high festivals have an octave. This custom was 
first borrowed from the Jewish religion ; for it was usual for 
the ancient Jews to allow eight days to their solemn festivals, 
in which they are imitated by the moderns to this day. The 
octave therefore consists of the feast itself, and the seven days 
which succeed it, though the name of octave is particularly 
.given to the last day of those eight, which answers to the so¬ 
lemn day of the feast. The rituals say, that when two octaves 
meet, the most distinguished of them shall have the prefer¬ 
ence, not forgetting at the same time to commemorate the 
saint, wffiose octave gave way to the other. In this manner 
the octave of St. John the Baptist,“gives precedence to that cf 
the holy sacrament, whenever they happen to meet: but if the 
octave of a saint who is patron of a place, should fall out at the 
same time with that of another saint, who had been either a 
bishop, an archbishop, or cardinal, the patron would be obliged 
to yield to the.prelate. 

Our limits forbid us attempting any thing like a detailed 
28 


326 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CTIFU H. 


account of the festivals prescribed by The Roman Calendar 
of Feasts and Stations throughout the year. According to 
this calendar, it may be perceived that the Holy City has not 
left even one day throughout the whole year unconsecrated 
either by festivals or stations ; indeed, that many days are 
there held sacred to the memory of more than half a dozen 
saints; that the inexhaustible treasure of indulgences is always 
open to the faithful, and furnishes them continually with ma¬ 
terials to repair the breaches, which Satan may have made in 
their virtue; and that the clergy of Rome are always in readi¬ 
ness to countermine his works. 

We shall select a few days which are sacred to distinguish¬ 
ed saints, or on which remarkable festivals are observed; and 
these will serve as examples of numerous others, which might 
be mentioned. 

This day is sacred for several saints, among whom is St. 
Macarius, who died A. D. 394. Macarius was a confectioner 
of Alexandria, but spent upwards of sixty years 
Jan. 2. St. i n the deserts in labour, penance, and contempla- 
acarius. tion. “ Our saint,” says Butler, “ happened one 
day inadvertently to kill a gnat, that was biting him in his 
cell; reflecting that he had lost the opportunity of suffering 
that mortification, he hastened from his cell to the marshes of 
Scete, which abound with great flies, whose stings pierce even 
wild boars. There he continued six months, exposed to those 
ravaging insects; and to such a degree was his whole body 
disfigured by them, with sores and swellings, that when he 
returned he was only to be known by his voice.” 

The Golden Legend relates of him, that Tie took a dead Pa¬ 
gan out of his sepulchre, and put him under his head for a 
pillow; whereupon certain devils came to affright the saint, 
and called the dead Pagan to go with them; but the body un¬ 
der the saint said he could not, because a pilgrim lay upon 
him, so that he could not move ; then Macarius, nothing 
afraid, beat the body with his fist, and told him to go if he 
would, which caused the devils to declare that Macarius had 
vanquished them. Another time the devil came with a great 
scythe on his shoulder, to smite the saint, but he could not 
prevail against him, on account of his virtues. 

Macarius, at another time, being tempted, filled a sack with 
stones, and bore it many journeys through the desert. Seeing 
a devil before him in the shape of a man, dressed like “ a he- 
rawde,” with his clothing full of holes, and in every hole a 
vial, he demanded of this devil whither he went, and why he 
nad so many vials ? The devil answered, to give drink to 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


327 


the hermits; and that the vials contained a variety of liquors, 
that they might have a choice, and so fall into temptation. On 
the devil’s return, the saint inquired how he had sped; and 
the devil answered, “ Very ill, for they were so holy that only 
one, Theodistus, would drink.” On "this information, Maca 
rius found Theodistus under the influence of the vial, ana 
recovered him. 

Macarius found the head of a Pagan, and asked “ where the 
soul of its body was?” “ In hell,” said the head. He asked 
the head “ if hell was deep?” the head said, “ Deeper than 
from heaven to earth.” Fie demanded again, “ If any were 
there lower than his own soul ?” the head said, “the Jews 
were lower than he was.” The saint inquired, “ if there were 
any lower than the Jews?” the head answered, “that false 
Christian-men were lower than the Jews, and more tor¬ 
mented.” 

Macarius seems, by the Golden Legend, to have been much 
annoyed by the devil. In a nine days’ journey through a de¬ 
sert, at the end of every mile he set up a reed in the earth, to 
mark his track against he returned; but the devil pulled them 
all up, made a bundle of them, and placed them at Macarius’s 
head, while he lay asleep ; so that the saint with great diffi¬ 
culty found his way home again. 

This Macarius is the identical saint who so opportunely as¬ 
sisted St. Flelena in the discovery of the genuine cross, and 
for that one act he certainly deserves to be ranked amongst the 
most renowned w r orthies of the Roman Calendar. 

This day is devoted in Paris to the feast of St. Genevieve, 
virgin patroness of that city. The legendary writers inform 
us, that we cannot pay too great homage to this- j. uluar r ^ 
saint, for the wonders she has performed for up- St Genevieve.* 
wards of twelve centuries; indeed, the angels 
returned thanks to heaven for the birth of this blessed virgin. 
Father Giry, in the Lives of the Saints, assures us, that the 
blessed spirits kept “ an extraordinary festival at her birth, and 
that all heaven was filled with joy.” St. Germanus of Auxerre 
asserted the same to the inhabitants of Nanterre, the first time 
he saw St. Genevieve, who was born in their city. In the 
height of her piety, she was seized with so violent a fit of sick¬ 
ness that she was thought to be dead, but in the midst of the 
torments which her body suffered, “ she was ravished in spirit 
among the angels, where she saw unutterable glories.” 

The Golden Legend relates, that by the Holy Ghost she 
showed many people their secret thoughts, and that from fif¬ 
teen years to fifty she fasted every day except Sunday and 


328 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


Thursday, when she ate beans, and barley bread of three 
weeks old. A woman once stole St. Genevieve’s shoes, but 
as soon as she got home she lost her sight for the theft, and 
remained blind, till, having restored the shoes, St. Genevieve 
restored the woman’s sight. 

Desiring the liberation of certain prisoners condemned to 
death at Paris, she went thither and found the city gates were 
shut against her, but they opened without any other key than 
her own presence. She prayed over twelve men in that city- 
possessed with devils, till the men were suspended in the air, 
and the devils were expelled. A child of four years old fell 
into a pit and was killed ; St. Genevieve only covered her with 
her mantle, and prayed over her, and the child came to life, 
and was baptized at Easter. On a voyage to Spain, she arrived 
at a port “ where, as of custom, ships were wont to perish.” 
Her own vessel was likely to strike on a tree in the water," 
which seems to have caused the wrecks; she commanded the 
tree to be cut down, and began to pray ; when lo ! just as the 
tree began to fall, “two wild heads, gray and horrible, issued 
thereout, which stank so sore, that the people that were there 
were envenomed by the space of turn hours, and never after 
perished ship there: thanks be to God and this holy saint.” 

At Meaux, a master not forgiving his servant his faults, 
though St. Genevieve prayed him, she prayed against him. 
He was immediately seized with a hot ague ; “on the morrow 
he came to the holy virgin, running with open mouth like a 
German bear, his tongue hanging out like a boar, and requi¬ 
ring pardon.” She then blessed him, the fever left him, and 
the servant was pardoned. A girl going by with a bottle, St. 
Genevieve called to her, and asked what she carried 7 she 
answered, oil, which she had bought; but St. Genevieve see¬ 
ing the devil sitting on the bottle, blew upon it, and the bottle 
broke, but the saint blessed the oil, and caused her to bear it 
home safely notwithstanding. The Golden Lege?id says, that 
the people who saw this, marvelled that the saint could see 
the devil, and were greatly edified. Her holiness now shone 
with greater lustre than ever in the eyes of the Parisians. 

11 She penetrated into the most inward recesses of their con¬ 
sciences, spent all her time in prayer, and shed so great an 
abundance of tears, that the floor of her chamber was quite 
wet with them. Though she had led a life of extraordinary 
penance, she nevertheless lived to a very advanced age. A 
great number of miracles were wrought at her tomb, and 
would undoubtedly have been wrought to the end of the world, 
had her relics been still there ; now they are wrought only at 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


329 

her shrine. Her shrine of gold and silver, covered with pre¬ 
cious stones, the presents of kings and queens, and with a clus¬ 
ter of diamonds on the top, presentee by the intriguing Mary 
de Medicis, was, on calamitous occasions, carried about Paris 
in procession, accompanied by shrines equally miraculous, 
and by the canons of St. Genevieve, walking barefoot. 

This day is sacred to the memory of St. Simeon Stylites, 
who astonished all Christendom by his personal mortifica¬ 
tions. Simeon went into the monastery of Ile- 
liodorus, where the monks ate but once a day ; January 5th. 
but our $aint carried this abstinence to such a ^ eon 
pitch, as to eat only once a week. Heliodorus 
required Simeon to be more private in his mortifications : with 
this view, judging the rough rope of the well, made of twisted 
palm-tree leaves, a proper instrument of penance, Simeon tied 
it close about his naked body, where it remained unknown 
both to the community and his superior, till such time as it 
having ate into his flesh, what he had privately done was dis¬ 
covered by the effluvia proceeding from the wound. It took 
three days to disengage the saint’s clothes, and the incisions 
of the physician, to cut the cord out of his body, were attended 
with such anguish and pain, that he lay for some time as 
dead. After this he determined to pass the whole forty days 
of Lent in total abstinence, and retired to a hermitage for that 
purpose. Bassus, an abbot, left with him ten loaves and 
water, and coming to visit him at the end of the forty days, 
found both loaves and water untouched, and the saint stretch¬ 
ed on the ground without signs of life. Bassus dipped a 
sponge in water, moistened his lips, gave him the Eucharist, 
and Simeon, by degrees, swallowed a few lettuce-leaves and 
other herbs. He passed twenty-six Lents in the same manner. 
In the first part of a Lent, he prayed standing; growing 
weaker, he prayed sitting; and towards the end, being almost 
exhausted, he prayed lying on the ground. 

At the end of three years he left his hermitage for the top 
of a mountain, made an inclosure of loose stones, without a 
roof, and having resolved to live exposed to the inclemencies 
of the weather, he fixed his resolution by fastening his right 
leg to a rock with a great iron chain. Multitudes thronged 
to the mountain to receive his benediction, and many of the 
sick recovered their health; but as some were not satisfied 
unless they touched him in his inclosure, and Simeon desired 
retirement from the daily concourse, he projected a new and 
unprecedented manner of life. ^ 

He erected a pillar six cubits high, (each cubit being 

28 * 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


330 

eighteen inches,) and dwelt on it four years; on a second, of 
twelve cubits high, he lived three years ; on a third, of twenty- 
two cubits high, ten years ; and, on a fourth, oi forty cubits, 
or sixty feet high, which the people built lor him, he spent the 
v last twenty years of his life. He was imitated in this folly by 
several other fanatics ; but none of them had the perseverance, 
or hardness of constitution, to earn any degree of immortality 
to be compared with that of Simeon. This, however, occa¬ 
sioned them to be called .stylites, from the Greek word stylos, 
a pillar. Simeon’s pillar did not exceed three feet in diameter 
at the top, so that he could not lie extended on it; he had no 
seat with him; he only stooped or leaned to take a little rest, 
and bowed his body in prayer so often, that a certain person 
who counted these positions, found that he made one thousand 
two hundred and forty-four reverences in one day ; which, if 
he began at four o’clock in the morning, and finished at eight 
o’clock at night, gives a bow to every three quarters of a mi¬ 
nute; besides which he exhorted the people twice a-day. His 
garments were the skins of beasts, he wore an iron collar 
round his neck, and had a horrible ulcer in his foot. During 
his forty days’ abstinence throughout Lent, he tied himself to 
a pole. He treated himself as the outcast of the world, and 
the worst of sinners ; worked miracles ; delivered prophecies ; 
had the sacrament delivered to him on the pillar, and died 
bowing upon it, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, after having 
lived upon pillars for seven and thirty years !—His corpse 
was carried to Antioch, attended by the bishops and the whole 
country, and worked miracles on its way. 

Without mentioning several of the miracles in the Golden 
Legend, which are not fit to be related, it may be observed 
that it is there said of him, that after his residence on the pil¬ 
lars, one of his thighs rotted a whole year, during which time 
he stood on one leg only! Near Simeon’s pillar was the 
dwelling of a dragon, so very venomous that nothing grew 
near his cave. This dragon met with an accident; he had a 
stake in his eye, and coming all blind to the saint’s pillar, and 
placing his eye upon it for three days, without doing harm to 
any one, Simeon ordered earth and w r ater to be placed on the 
dragon’s eye, which being done, out came the stake, a cubit 
in length; when the people saw this miracle, they glorified 
God, and ran away for fear of the dragon, which arose and 
adored for two hours, and returned to his cave! 

A woman swallowed a little serpent, which tormented her 
for many years, till she came to Simeon, who causing earth 
and water to be laid on her mouth, the little serpent came out 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CIIURCH. 


331 


four feet and a half long. It is affirmed, that when Simeon 
died, Anthony smelt a precious odour proceeding from his 
body ; that birds, men, and beasts cried; that an angel came 
down in a cloud; that the Patriarch of Antioch taking Si¬ 
meon’s beard to put among his relics, his hand withered, and 
remained so until a multitude of prayers were said for him, 
and it was healed; and that more miracles were worked at 
and after Simeon’s sepulture, than he had wrought during the 
whole of his life ! 

On the day of the feast of this saint, the pope, cardinals, 
princes, and even private gentlemen, send their horses and 
their mules to be blessed by him; the saddles j anmu -y 17th 
and harnesses of these beasts are also carried St. Anthony 
to him. They bless and sprinkle the beasts the Patriarch 
and their equipage, in the name, and for the 01 iVlonKS - 
sake of the saint, upon consideration for a certain sum, viz. 
two paoli for each beast. Another ceremony in which St. 
Anthony is applied to, is that of exorcising, conjuring, and 
delivering up to the devil, mice, locusts, or grasshoppers, and 
all other noxious animals. 

According to St. Athanasius, Anthony was born in 251, at 
Coma, near Pleraclea in Egypt, and in that neighbourhood 
commenced the life of a hermit: he was continually assailed 
by the devil. His only food was bread with a little stlt, he 
drank nothing but yvater, never ate before sun-set, sometimes 
only once in two or four days, and lay on a rush mat or on 
the bare floor. For further solitude he left Coma, and hid 
himself in an old sepulchre, till, in 285, he withdrew into the 
deserts of the mountains, from whence, in 305, he descended 
and founded his first monastery. His under garment was 
sackloth, with a white sheepskin coat and girdle. He was 
taught to apply himself to manual labour by an angel, who 
appeared, platting mats of palm-tree leaves. Athanasius in¬ 
forms us that Anthony always prayed whilst he was at work; 
and that he detested the Arians; that he would not speak to 
a heretic unless to exhort him to the true faith; and that he 
drove all such from his mountain, calling them venomous ser¬ 
pents. tie was very anxious that after his decease, he should 
not be embalmed, and being one hundred and fifty years old, 
he died in 356, having bequeathed one of his sheepkins, with 
the coat in which he lay, to his biographer. 

St. Athanasius is very particular in his account of St. An¬ 
thony’s warfare with the infernal powers. He says that 
hostilities commenced when the saint first determined on 
hermitizing; “ in short, the devil raised a great deal of dust 








332 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


in his thoughts, so that by bemudding and disordering his 
intellects, he might make St. Anthony let go his design.” In 
his first conflict with the devil he was victorious, although 
Satan appeared to him in an alluring shape.—Next he came 
in the form of a black boy, and was again defeated. 

After that, Anthony got into a tomb, and shut down the top, 
but the devil found him out, and with a great company of 
other devils, so beat and bruised him, that in the morning he 
was discovered, by the person who brought his bread, lying 
like a dead'man on the ground; whereupon he took him up 
and carried him to the town church, where many of his 
friends sat by him until midnight. Anthony then coming to 
himself, and seeing all asleep, caused the person who brought 
him thither to carry him back privately, and again got into 
the tomb, shutting down the tomb-top as before. Upon this, 
the devils being very much exasperated, one night made a noise 
so dreadful, that the walls shook. They transformed them¬ 
selves into the shapes of all sorts of beasts, lions, bears, leop¬ 
ards, bulls, serpents, asps, scorpions and wolves; every one of 
which moved and acted agreeably to the creatures which they 
represented; the lion roaring and seeming to make towards 
him, the bull to butt, the serpent to creep, and the wolf to run 
at him, and so in short all the rest; so that Anthony was tor¬ 
tured and mangled by them so grievously that his bodily pain 
was greater than before. But he taunted them, and the devils 
gnashed their teeth. This continued till the roof of his cell 
opened, a beam of light shot down, the devils became speech¬ 
less, Anthony’s pain ceased, and the roof closed again. 

At one time, the devil laid the semblance of a large piece 
of plate in his way, but Anthony, perceiving the devil in the 
dish, chid it, and the plate disappeared. At another time he 
saw a quantity of real gold on the ground, and to show the 
devil “ that he did not value money, he leaped over it as a 
man in a fright over a fire.” 

Having secluded himself in an empty castle, some of his 
acquaintance came often to see him, but in vain; he would 
not let them enter, and they remained whole days and nights 
listening to a tumultuous rout of devils bawling and wailing 
within. He lived in that state for twenty years, never seeing 
or being seen by any one, till his friends broke open the door, 
and the spectators were in amazement to see his body, that 
had been so belaboured by devils, in the same shape in which 
it was before his retirement. By way of a caution to others, 
he related the practices of the devils, and how they appeared. 
He said that, “ to scare us, they will represent themselves so 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


333 


tall as to touch the ceiling, and proportionally broad; they 
often pretend to sing psalms and cite the scriptures, and some¬ 
times while we are reading they echo what we read; some¬ 
times they stamp, sometimes they laugh, and sometimes they 
hiss; but when one regards them not, then they weep and 
lament as vanquished. Once, when they came threatening 
and surrounding me like soldiers, accoutred and horsed, and 
again when they filled the place with wild beasts and creeping 
things, I sung Psalm xix. 8, and they were presently routed. 
Another time, when they appeared with a light in the dark, 
and said, “We are come, Anthony, to lend thee our light,” 
I prayed, shutting my eyes, because 1 disdained to behold 
their light, and presently their light was put out. After this 
they came and hissed and danced; but as I prayed, and lay 
along singing, they presently began to wail and weep as 
though they were spent. 

Once there came a devil very tall in appearance, that dared 
to say, “ What wouldst thou have me bestow upon thee?” but 
I spat upon him and endeavoured to beat him, and, great as he 
was, he disappeared with the rest of the devils. Once one of 
them knocked at the door of my cell, and when I opened it I 
saw a tall figure, and when I asked him, “Who art thou?” 
he answered, “ I am Satan; Why do the monks blame and 
curse me ? I have no longer a place or a city, and now the de¬ 
sert is filled with monks ; let them not curse one to no purpose.” 
I said to him, “ Thou art a liar,” &c. and he disappeared. 

Much more than this he is related to have said by his 
biographer, who affirms that, “having been prevailed upon to 
go into a vessel and pray with the monks, he, and he only, 
perceived a wretched and terrible stink; the company said 
there was some salt fish in the vessel, but he perceived ano¬ 
ther kind of scent, and while he was speaking, a young man 
that had a devil, and who had entered before them and hid 
himself, cried out, and the devil was rebuked by St. Anthony 
and came out of him, and then they all knew that it was the 
devil that stunk.”—“Wonderful as these things are, there are 
stranger beings yet; for once as he was going to pray, he was 
in a rapture, and (which is a paradox) as soon as he stood up, 
he saw himself without himself, as it were in the air, and 
some bitter and terrible beings standing by him in the air too, 
but the angels, his guardians, withstood them.” 

“ He had also another particular favour, for ns he was sit¬ 
ting on the mount in a praying posture, and perhaps gravelled 
with some doubt relating to himself, in the night-time, one 
called to him, and said, ‘ Anthony, arise, go forth and look!’ 


334 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


so he went out and saw a certain terrible deformed personage, 
standing and reaching to the clouds, and winged creatures, 
and him stretching out his hands; and some of them he saw 
were stopped by him, and others were flying beyond him; 
whereupon the tall one gnashed his teeth, and Anthony per¬ 
ceived that it was the enemy of souls, who seizes on those 
who are accountable to him, but cannot reach those who are 
not persuadable by him.”—His biographer declares that the 
devils fled at his wrnrd, as fast as from a whip. 

The Rev. Alban Butler says, “ there is extant a sermon of 
St. Anthony’s, wherein he extols the efficacy of the sign of 
the cross for chasing the devil, and lays down rules for the 
discernment of spirits.” There is reason to believe that he 
could not read; St. Austin thinks that he did not know the 
alphabet. He wore his habit to his dying day, neither wash¬ 
ing the dirt off his body, nor so much as his feet, unless they 
were wet by chance when he waded through water on a 
journey. The Jesuit Ribadeneria affirms, that “all the world 
relented and bemoaned his death, for afterwards there fell no 
rain from heaven for three years.” 

Though two centuries elapsed before Anthony’s bones were 
looked for, his grave was not only discovered, but his body 
was found in the customary preservation. It was brought to 
Europe through a miracle. One Joceline, who had neglected 
a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, was, therefore, sorely wounded 
in battle, and carried for dead into a chapel dedicated to St. 
Anthony. When he began to revive, a multitude of devils 
appeared to drag him to hell, and one devil cast a halter 
about his neck to strangle him, w T herefore St. Anthony appear¬ 
ed; the devils flew from him of course, and he commanded 
Joceline to perform his pilgrimage, and to convey his body 
from the East; whereupon Joceline obeyed and carried it to 
France. The saint’s beard afterwards was shown at Cologne, 
with a part of his hand, and another piece of him was shown 
at Tournay; two of his relics were at Antwerp; a church 
dedicated to him at Rome was famous for his sackcloth, and 
part of his palm coat; the other part of it was exhibited at 
Vienna, and the rest of his body was multiplied about, that 
there were limb-bones enough for the remains of half a dozen 
uncanonized persons. 

St. Anthony’s fire is an inflammatory disease, which, in the 
eleventh century, raged violently in various parts. According 
to the legend, the intercession of St. Anthony was prayed for, 
when it miraculously ceased; and therefore, from that time, 
the complaint has been called St. Anthony’s fire. 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


335 


St. David, or in Welsh, Dewid, the patron of Wales, was 
son of Xantus, prince of Cardiganshire, and his birth was pro¬ 
phesied thirty years before it happened ; he was 
brought up a priest, became an ascetic in the Ma rc h 1st. 
Isle of Wight, afterwards preached to the Bri- ' dV1 
tons, founded twelve monasteries, ate only bread and vegeta¬ 
bles, and drank milk ajnd water. A synod being called at 
Brevy, in Cardiganshire, A. D. 519, in order to suppress the 
heresy of Pelagius, “ St. David confuted and silenced the in¬ 
fernal monster by his learning, eloquence, and miracles.” 
After the synod, St. Dubritius, archbishop of Caerleon, re¬ 
signed his see to St. David, which see is now called St. Da¬ 
vid’s. He died in 544, St. Kentigern saw his soul borne by 
angels to heaven ; his body was in the church of St. Andrew. 
In 962, his relics were translated to Glastonbury. 

-One of the miracles alleged' of St. David, by Cressy, is, that 
at the anti-Pelagian synod he restored a child to life, ordered 
it to spread a napkin under his feet, and made an oration ; 
that a snow-white dove descended from heaven and sat on his 
shoulders; and that the ground whereon he stood, rose under 
him till it became a hill, “ on the top of which hill a church 
was afterwards built, which remains to this day.” He assem¬ 
bled a provincial synod to confirm the decrees of Brevy; and 
wrote the proceedings of both synods for preservation in his 
own church, and to be sent to other churches of the province; 
hut they were lost by age, negligence, and incursions of pi¬ 
rates, who almost every summer came in long boats from the 
Orkneys, and wasted the coast of Cambria. He invited St. 
Kined to this synod, who answered that he had grown crooked, 
distorted, and too weak for the journey; whereupon ensued 
“ a double miracle,” for “ St. Kined having been restored to 
health and straightness by the prayers of St. David, by his 
own prayers he was reduced again to his former infirmity and 
crookedness.” After this synod, he journeyed to the monas¬ 
tery of Glastonbury, which he had built and consecrated, with 
intent to repair it, and consecrated it again; whereupon our 
Lord appearing to him in his sleep, and forbidding him to 
profane the sacred ceremony before performed, he, in testimo¬ 
ny, with his finger pierced a hole in the bishop’s hand, which 
remained open to the view of all men till the end of the next 
day’s mass.” Before his death “ the angel of the Lord ap¬ 
peared to him, and said to him, prepare thyself.” Again: 
“ When the hour of his departure was come, our Lord Jesus 
Christ vouchsafed his presence, to the infinite consolation of 
our holy father, who at the sight of him exulted.” More to 


336 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


the same purpose is alleged by the Catholic writers respecting 
him,—such as, that at his death, “being associated to a troop 
of angels, he with them mounted up to heaven,” and that the 
event was known “ by an angel divulging it.” 

According to Porter, St. David was uncle to the famous 
prince Arthur, or, strictly speaking, half uncle, if St. David’s 
illegitimacy be authentic. The same author relates of him, that 
on his way from building the church of Glastonbury he went 
to Bath, cured an infection of the waters, and by his prayers 
and bendiction gave them the perpetual heat they still retain. 
On the same authority, St. David’s posthumous virtue, in the 
reign of King Stephen, occasioned the brook above the church¬ 
yard of St. David’s church to run wine, by miracle: the well 
near it, called Pisteldewy or the Conduit of David, sent forth 
milk instead of water. Also, a boy, that endeavoured to take 
pigeons from a nest in St. David’s church at Lhannons, had 
his fingers miraculously fastened to the stone, till by his 
friends’ watching, fasting, and praying before the altar three 
days and nights, the stone fell from his hand. “ Manie thou¬ 
sands of other miracles have been wrought by the meritts of 
this holy man, which for brevitie’s sake we omitt. I only 
desire all true hearted Welshmen allwaiesto honour this their 
great patrone and protector, and supplicate the Divine Good¬ 
ness to reduce his sometime beloved countrey out of the blind¬ 
ness of Protestancie, groveling in which it languisheth. Not 
only in Wales, but all England over, is most famous in the 
memorie of St. David. But in these our unhappie daies the 
greatest part of his solemnitie consisteth in wearing of a greene 
leeke, and it is a sufficient theme for a zealous Welshman to 
ground a quarrel 1 against him, that doeth not honour his capp 
with the like ornament that day.” 

The feast of this saint is celebrated in the church of Miner- 
March 7th. va ’ where the cardinals assist solemnly at mass ; 
St. Thomas and in St. Barbara’s feast of the booksellers, who 
Aquinas. have taken St. Thomas Aquinas for their patron. 

It is related in the Golden Legend, that a man who was 
thought to be starved to death, and by a rope cast about his 
neck, was drawn to the top of a tower, and thrown down from 
thence, when he came to the ground rose up upon his feet, 
and gave the following account to those who wondered at his 
being alive, since he had continued so long without suste¬ 
nance, and how it was possible for him to be preserved in his 
fall; he assured them, that St. Barbara preserved him in all 
his dangers, and in his fall from the tower sustained him with 
her holy hands. 



































Scupulary and Rosary, p. 317. 318. 










































































ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


337 


It is also related, that St. Barbara’s father, who was a hea¬ 
then, and had shut her up in a tower for fear of being- seduced, 
she being a very great beauty, perceiving by her discourses 
that she was a Christian, drew out his sword in great indig¬ 
nation, with design to kill her; but upon her prayers to God, 
a great stone opening itself, received her into its cavity, and 
rolled with her to a mountain full of caves, where she thought 
to have hid herself, but was discovered by a shepherd, who 
was punished for it in a miraculous manner ; he himself being 
changed into a marble statue, and all his sheep into locusts, 
others say beetles; which, as a perpetual accusation of the 
crime, continually hover about her grave. 

It is recorded by Surius, that in 1448, at a town called Gor- 
cum in Holland, one Henry Knoch, by an accident of the 
candle’s falling into the straw, had his house set on fire in the 
night, and he himself hardly escaped in his shirt, which began 
to burn in two places; but remembering he had left some 
money in the house, he resolved to return to it, in order to 
save it; but before he could come to the place where it lay, 
the house fell upon his naked body; when apprehending 
present death, he was more tormented, because he had not 
been prepared against the terrors of death by the sacraments 
of the church, and in this distress he betook himself to St. 
Barbara for the remedy of his soul, by addressing himself to 
her in prayer. The saint, being thus invoked, immediately 
presented herself before him, under such a shape as she is 
usually represented in churches. With her garments she 
quickly quenched the globes of fire, and with her white hand 
brought him through the straw-roof, and setting him in a safe 
place, told him that his life would be prolonged till the next 
morning, &c., saying which, she vanished away. All was 
performed as she had said, though Henry was so burnt, that 
scarcely any flesh was left on his bones unconsumed, and what 
remained of him was as black as a negro, bis eyes, heart, and 
tongue excepted, which remained untouched. 

This day is sacred, likew ise, to the memory of St. Paul the 
Anchorite.—He was a man of profound ignorance. Butler 
says he was named “the simple.” He journeyed eight days 
into the desert to become a disciple of St. Anthony, who told 
him he w-as too old, and bade him return home, mind his busi¬ 
ness, and say his prayers ; he shut the door upon him. Paul 
fasted and prayed before the door till Anthony opened it, and 
out of compassion made a monk of him. One day after he had 
diligently worked at making mats and hurdles, and prayed 
without intermission, St. Anthony bid him undo his work, and 
29 


338 


ROMAM CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


do it all over again, which he did, without asking for a morsel 
of bread, though he had been seven days without eating; this 
was to try Paul’s obedience. Another day when some monks 
came to Anthony for advice, he bid Paul spill a vessel of 
honey and gather it up without any dust; this was another 
trial of his obedience. At other times he ordered him to draw 
water a whole day and pour it out again ; to make baskets 
and pull them to pieces ; to sew and unsew garments, and the 
like: these were other trials of his obedience. When'An¬ 
thony had thus exercised him, he placed him in a cell three 
miles from his own, proposed him as a model of obedience to 
his disciples, sent sick persons to him, and others possessed 
with the devil, whom he could not cure himself. 

The feast of St. Gregory, surnamed the Great, is held in 
St. Peter’s, where his body is deposited. Pie was pra?tor of 
March 12th. Rome in 574, under the Emperor Justin; next 
St. Gregory year he became a monk, and by fasting and study 
the Pope. became so weak, that he swooned if he did not 
frequently eat. What gave him the greatest affliction was, 
his not being able to fast on Easter-eve; a day on which, says 
St. John the Deacon, every one, not even excepting little child¬ 
ren, are used to fast; whereupon, by praying that he might 
be enabled to fast, he not only fasted, but quite forgot his ill¬ 
ness. Pie determined to proceed to Britain to propagate the 
faith; but the whole city rose in an uproar to prevent his de¬ 
parture, and the pope constrained him to remain. 

Pope Pelagius II. afterwards sent him as nuncio to Con¬ 
stantinople, where Eutychius fell into an error, importing that, 
after the resurrection, glorified bodies would not be palpable , 
but of a more subtile texture than air. St. Gregory clearly 
demonstrated that such bodies would be the same which they 
had on earth, and Eutychius retracted his error. 

On his return to Rome, he took with him an arm of St. An¬ 
drew, and the head of St. Luke. Pelagius made him his sec¬ 
retary, after whose death, he was elected pope himself. 

To escape from the danger of this elevation, Gregory got 
himself carried out of Rome in a wicker basket, and lay con¬ 
cealed in the woods and caverns for three days. He was af¬ 
terwards consecrated with great pomp, and on that oceasion 
sent a synodal epistle to the other patriarchs, wherein he de¬ 
clared that “ he received the four councils as the four gospels.” 
Butler says, he extended his charity to the heretics, and “to 
the very Jews;” yet he afterwards adds, that in Africa, “he 
extirpated the Donatists.” Fie subscribed himself in his let- 
ers, Servant of the Servants of God. He sent to the Empress 


HOMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


339 


Constantina a veil which had touched the relics of the apos¬ 
tles, and assured her that miracles had been wrought by such 
relics, and promised her some dust-filings of the chains of St. 
Paul. Fie likewise sent to St. Austin and other monks to 
convert the English. 

Fie died on the 25th of January, 604. Flis devotion to the 
church was constant; he was learned, enterprising, sincere, 
and credulous; and, for the times wherein he lived, charitable 
and merciful. He was the author of the church-singing, 
called the Gregorian chant. 

Many miracles are related of St. Gregory; as, that going 
to bless a church in honour of St. Agnes, which had been used 
by the Arians, he caused the relics to be placed on the altar, 
whereon a hog went grunting out of the church with a fear¬ 
ful noise; whence it was averred, that the devil, who had been 
served in it by the heretic Arians, was driven out by the re¬ 
lics. Sometimes the lamps were miraculously lighted. One 
day a bright cloud descended on the altar, with a heavenly odour, 
so that from reverence no one dared to enter the church. 

At another time, when Gregory was transubstantiating the 
wafers, a woman laughed; he asked her why she laughed? 
to which at length she answered, “because you call the bread 
which I made with my own hands the body of our Lord;” 
whereupon he prayed, and the consecrated bread appeared 
flesh to every one present; and the woman was converted, 
and the rest were confirmed. 

At another time, some ambassadors coming to Rome for re¬ 
lics, Gregory took a linen cloth which had been applied to the 
body of a saint, and inclosing it in a box, gave it to them. 
While on their journey home, they were curious to see the 
contents of the box; and finding nothing within it but the 
cloth, returned to St. Gregory complaining that he had de¬ 
ceived them. On this, he took the cloth, laid it on the altar, 
prayed, pricked it with a knife, the cloth shed blood, and the 
astonished ambassadors reverently took back the box. 

Another time, one who had been excommunicated by St. 
Gregory for having put away his lawful wife, bargained with 
certain sorcerers and witched for revenge; who, when the 
holy pope rode through the city, sent the devil into his horse, 
and made him caper, so that he could not be held; then, with 
the sign of the cross, the pope cast out the devil; and the 
witches, by miracle becoming blind, were converted, and St. 
Gregory baptized them; yet he would not restore their sight, 
lest they should read their magical books again; but he main* 
tained them out of the church-rents. 


340 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


After his death there was a famine in Rome, and the peo¬ 
ple being falsely persuaded that St. Gregory had wasted the 
church property, gathered his writings to burn them; where¬ 
fore Peter the Deacon, who had been intimate with Gregory, 
affirmed, that he had often seen the Holy Ghost in form of a 
dove upon St. Gregory’s head w'hilst he was writing, and that it 
would be an insufferable affront to burn those books, which 
had been written by his inspiration; and to assure them of this, 
he offered to confirm it by oath, but stipulated, that if he died 
immediately after he had taken the oath, that they should be¬ 
lieve that he had told them the truth: this being assented to, 
he took the oath, and thereupon died, and the people believed ; 
and “hence,” says Rabadineira, “the painters came to repre¬ 
sent St. Gregory with a dove at his ear, to signify that the 
Holy Ghost inspired and dictated what he wrote.” 

It is also related of St. Gregory, that, when he fled from Rome 
to avoid the dignity of popedom, and lay hidden, a bright pil¬ 
lar of fire descending from heaven, glittered above his head, 
and angels appeared descending and ascending by the same 
fiery pillar upon him; wherefore, he was miraculously be¬ 
trayed. 

Lent is said to be an imitation of the fasting of Jesus Christ. 
It must be of great antiquity, since it is cited by several ancient 

Lent nd ^ at ^ iers * ^e primitive church the Christians 
Ember weeks did not a l vva y s f ast during the precise term of 
forty days ; for w T e have examples of Lent-seasons 
that were of shorter continuance, and of others that lasted 
longer. It was sometimes usual to begin Lent at Septuagesi- 
ma, other times at Sexagesima, and often at Quinquagesima. 
With some, it held six weeks, with others seven, and some 
again began it but three weeks before Easter. It was kept 
very strictly, for they used to abstain not only from wine, flesh, 
meats, and all kinds of luxury, but to fast till the.evening. 
Lastly, all persons were prohibited from marrying during Lent, 
which custom is observed to this day. 

The fast of the ember weeks was borrowed originally from 
the Jews ; for they bear a relation to four fasts which the Jews 
denominated from the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months. 
The ember weeks are observed in March, June, September, 
and December. The humiliation of the ember weeks con¬ 
sists in three days strict fasting in each season of the year. 
By this fast, the faithful are taught that the four parts of the 
year are to be equally consecrated to God. Some pretend 
that these fasts were established as early as the first century 
of the church, but that they were not absolutely binding; on 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CIIURCH. 


341 


the contrary, that a person might transgress them without scan¬ 
dal or offence. It is even said, that this coldness and indiffer¬ 
ence were not suppressed but in process of time by councils. 
Others say, that the ember weeks were not instituted till the 
year 460, by Pope St. Leo. Moreover, that Pope Gelasius 
commanded that priests and deacons should be ordained in 
those seasons. As it was customary in the apostolic age, for 
fasting and public prayer to precede their ordinations, it was 
but reasonable that the present ember weeks should be dis¬ 
tinguished by the same pious exercises, and that the faithful 
should employ fasting and prayer “ to implore such officers 
of God as might be worthy to serve his church.” 

The ceremony of giving ashes is one of the ancient methods 
of expressing sorrow, of which mention is often made in the 
Old Testament. It is also a type of the public 
penance used among Christians anciently, during o-ivfn^the^ ° f 
which the penitent was cut off from all commu- Ashes, 
nication with the rest of the faithful, and stood at 
the church-door, covered with sackcloth and ashes. 

The ashes that are made use of on Ash-Wednesday must 
be made from the branches of olive, or some other trees that 
have been blessed the foregoing year on Palm Sunday. The 
sacristan, or vestry-keeper, gets these ashes ready and lays 
them in a small vessel on the altar, on the epistle-side; after 
which the officiating priest , blesses them, for which purpose 
the wax-tapers on the altar are lighted. The officiating priest, 
his clerks, and his acolytes, put on ornaments suitable to the 
solemnity of the ceremony; during which the choir chant none , 
or the ninth hour ; after which, the officiating priest, preceded 
by the incense-bearer, and other assistants, goes up to the altar, 
kisses it, and says a prayer with his face a little turned towads 
the ashes. He afterwards makes the sign of the cross upon 
the ashes, and incenses them. The incensing being ended, 
the priest, having on one side of him the deacon carrying the 
ashes, and his sub-deacon on the other, goes forward towards 
the middle of the altar, and turns round to the congregation. 
Th en the chief of the clergy in whose church the ceremony 
of giving the ashes is performed, goes up to the altar, and lays 
the ashes on the head of the officiating priest in the form of a 
cross, repeating these words, Memento homo quia pulvis es, <fyc.; 
i. e. Remember man that thou art dust , Spc. After the priest 
has received the ashes, he gives them to his assistants, to all 
the clergy then present, and at last to the whole congregation. 
The women as well as the men, receive the ashes on their fore¬ 
heads. 


29 * 


342 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


A bishop, with his mitre off, receives the ashes sitting, from 
the officiating canon; after which the prelate, putting on his 
mitre, and having a white cloth before him, gives the ashes to 
the officiating canon, who stoops before him. It is the bishop’s 
province to give the ashes to a churchman of superior dignity, 
such as an archbishop or patriarch. Princes, ambassadors, 
and other persons of distinction, receive the ashes after the 
canons. The canons and the superior clergy incline their 
bodies when they receive them, but all the inferior clergy and 
the laity take them kneeling. The pope receives them from 
the officiating cardinal, who does not repeat the Memento , fyc. 
to him; but the cardinal stoops a little when he takes them 
from the pope. If an emperor were to assist at this ceremony 
of humiliation, he must take them after all the cardinals; for 
the princes of the church are superior to all temporal ones. 

Pope Urban V. sent, on the fourth Sunday in Lent of the 
year 1366, a golden rose, to Joan, queen of Sicily, and made 

Blessing-the a decree, by which it was ordained, that the 
Golden Rose, popes should consecrate one at that season every 
year. This golden rose is enriched with pre¬ 
cious stones, and is often sent by the pope to princesses, or to 
some church, as a mark of his peculiar affection. His holi¬ 
ness blesses the rose in the room in which the ornaments are 
kept, immediately before he goes to hear mass in his own 
chapel. This blessing is performed with frankincense, holy 
water, balm, and musk, mixed together. The benediction 
being ended, the pope goes out of the room, and one of his 
privy chamberlains carries the rose before him, and lays it 
on a candlestick. Then a cardinal-deacon presents it to his 
holiness, who, taking it in his left hand, walks on to the cha¬ 
pel, and with his right hand blesses the faithful who line the 
way. After this, the rose is returned to the cardinal-deacon, 
and he gives it to a clerk of the chamber, who lays it on the 
altar. Mass being ended, his holiness gives the rose to whom¬ 
soever he thinks proper. We must not omit that the Sunday 
of the golden rose is called Lcetare, from a lesson which is 
read on that day, beginning at verse 10, of the 66th chapter 
of Isaiah, and that the sacred college come into the chapel 
clothed in cassocks of the colour of dried roses. 

The rose is remarkable for three qualities, which are to be 
applied to the faithful of the Church, viz. for its colour, its fra¬ 
grance, and taste. The substance of the golden rose, the musk 
and the balm with which it is blessed, are so many emblems 
of the divine, the spiritual, and human nature of Jesus Christ. 

On Palm-Sunday, palms are prepared at the Pope’s Chapel; 


















ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


343 


and when these cannot he procured, olive-branches are some¬ 
times used, adorned with the leaves of the palm- 
tree, tied up neatly in the shape of a cross: these 0 f Palm 1 Sun- 
palm, or olive-branches, are about five feet in day/ 
length. The Pope then goes in procession to 
the chapel; and when the prayers and ceremonies which 
are used in all other benedictions are ended, his holiness 
sprinkles and incenses the branches. After their conse¬ 
cration, the chief cardinal-bishop presents two of the largest of 
them to his holiness, who gives them to two persons of dis¬ 
tinction, who, according to the Roman ceremonial, must stand 
on each side of the pope, with the branches in their hands. 
The above r mentioned cardinal then presents him a third 
branch, less than the former; this the pope gives to a cham¬ 
berlain, ancl presents the rest to the cardinals, prelates, ambas¬ 
sadors, and noblemen, who assist at the ceremony. 

The branches, which the cardinal-bishop offers to his holi¬ 
ness, are beautifully adorned with flowers, and must be kissed 
by those to whom they are presented. When the chief cardi¬ 
nal-bishop receives them, he has the honour to kiss the hand 
and knee of his holiness ; the rest of the cardinals also kiss 
his knee, but the clergy of an inferior order only kiss his foot. 
The ceremony concludes with distributing the branches among 
the people; and during the service of the Passion, all the con¬ 
gregation hold their branches in their hands. 

On Palm-Sun day, the altars, likewise, are adorned with 
palm or olive-branches. The branches, designed to be dis¬ 
tributed, are laid upon a table near the altar, and remain there 
covered with a white cloth, till the time of blessing them. 

One remarkable custom practised on Palm-Sunday, and 
which is still observed in several parts of Christendom? is the 
setting a prisoner at liberty ; upon which occasion the bishop 
and clergy go in procession: the ceremony of this delivery is 
considered by the Catholics as a type of their spiritual free¬ 
dom. This ceremony is borrowed from the Jews, who used 
anciently to set a prisoner at liberty on the day of their pass- 
over, in commemoration of their deliverance from the Egyp¬ 
tian bondage. 

After the palms are distributed, the procession begins by 
the deacon presenting the officiating priest with one of the 
branches, which he kisses, as also the priest’s hand : this being 
done, the sub-deacon takes the cross, and takes his station be¬ 
tween the two incense-bearers, at the entrance of the sanctua¬ 
ry or chancel. Immediately after, the deacon, having knelt 
down, and turned himself towards the people, repeats to them, 


344 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


Procedamus in pace, i. e. Let us go in peace; and the pro¬ 
cession is then performed round the church. When it is ended, 
mass is said. During the singing of the passion, the several 
members of the congregation hold their branches in their 
hands, not excepting the officiating priest and the ministers of 
the altar; none being excepted but the deacons, who repeat 
the service of the passions, and the acolytes, and their attend¬ 
ants. After mass is ended, every member of the congregation 
carries home his branch which has been blessed; and, accord¬ 
ing to the rituals, a branch thus blessed, is a preservative from 
several diseases, and an instrument of innumerable blessings. 

After various preliminary ceremonies, the procession sets 
out, each person with his taper in his hand, in such order 

TheProces- ^ at y oun g' es(: walks first, and the oldest last, 
sion of the The superior clergy walk immediately after the 
Host to theSe- priest, w r ho marches under a canopy, and car- 
pulchre. ries ] lost Being come to the sepulchre, 
the youngest place themselves near the cross, which is set 
opposite to the grave, and the oldest place themselves be¬ 
hind them: this being done, they all fall down on their knees, 
the incense and cross-bearers excepted; and the choir sings 
and repeats the anthem Tamtum ergo sacramentum , till the 
conclusion of the ceremony. The priest now incenses the 
host, and a deacon takes it up and holds it in his hands, till 
such time as the priest kneels down before it. This being 
done, the deacon puts it again in the tabernacle, where the 
priest incenses it thrice; after which, the deacon locks up the 
tabernacle, and gives the key of it to the master of the cere¬ 
monies. At the return of the procession, all the tapers are 
put out, with the exception of those of the acolytes, who walk 
before the cross-bearers. The officiating priest now puts ofT 
his white vestments, and puts on purple ones, in order to say 
the office of the vespers ; his attendants do the same ; and after 
the vespers are ended they uncover the altars in the following 
manner:— 

The officiating priest takes from the-high altar its cover¬ 
ings, its Pallia , and other ornaments; but does not take off 
the cross and its lights. They even take away the little ta¬ 
ble, on which the church plate, the carpets, and flowers, usual¬ 
ly stand ; and they likewise uncover the pulpit and the church- 
walls ; the covering of which the sacristan carries into the 
vestry. The cross is now covered with a black or purple- 
coloured veil; the tabernacle is veiled in the same manner, 
and is left open, being the house of the living God, who has 
absented himself from it for some time. The cross must now 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


345 


be placed before the tabernacle. In order to solemnize the 
passion of our Saviour, a black canopy is then set over the 
high altar, and the walls of the church are hung with the 
same colour. The whole of this mournful ceremony is ush¬ 
ered in by certain anthems. 

It is stated that the uncovering of the altars represents the 
ignominious manner in which Jesus Christ was stripped of 
his garments. 

After the ceremonies above-mentioned are ended, the pope 
is carried to the gallery, where the bull in Caena Domini is 
read; by which his holiness excommunicates, in a solemn 
manner, all heretics and unrepenting sinners; after which he 
gives his blessing to all the people there assembled. 

During the publication of the bull in Coeria Domini , which 
is given out from the gallery of the blessing, the pope is then 
clothed in a red chasuble, and a stole of the same colour; and 
stands in a kind of high pulpit, the better to be seen by the 
people. The sub-deacon, who stands at the left hand of his 
holiness, reads the bull, which is in Latin; and the deacon, 
who stands at his right, reads the same to them in Italian. In 
the mean time the candles are lighted, and each of them takes 
one in his hand. When the excommunication is pronounced, 
the pope and cardinals put out their candles, and throw them 
among the crowd, after which the black cloth that covered the 
pulpit is taken away. 

Two cardinal-deacons’ assistants now publish the plenary 
indulgence, one in Latin, the other in Italian. 

After this his holiness washes the feet of twelve priests in 
the ducal hall, and entertains them at dinner in another apart¬ 
ment, himself waiting upon them; and presents to each of 
them two medals, the one of gold, the other of silver, as also 
an apostolical garment, made of white serge. 

This ceremony is considered typical of Jesus Ceremony 
Christ washing the feet of his disciples, and is of washing the 
held in high veneration by the rigid Roman Cath- feet of the 
olic. A modern writer thus describes the cere- P oor# 
inony :— 

The pope and cardinals having come into the ducal hall, 
the cardinal-deacons assistants clothe his holiness with his pur¬ 
ple stole, his red cope, and plain mitre. Their eminences are 
clothed in purple copes. His holiness having put three spoon¬ 
bills of odoriferous spices into the thurible, gives his blessing 
to the cardinal-deacon, who is to sing the gospel, which be¬ 
gins Ante diem festum Paschce; after this, one of the aposto¬ 
lical sub-deacons gives the pope a book of the New Testament 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


34 ^ 

to kiss; and the cardinal deacon incenses hirn thrice; imme¬ 
diately after which, a chorus of musicians sing the 34th verse 
of the 13th chapter of St. John, in which are these words, 
Mandatum novum do vobis: “ A new commandment I give 
unto you.” 

As soon as the pope hears these words sung, he takes of! 
his cope, and putting on a white apron, washes the feet of thir¬ 
teen poor priests, being strangers, who sit on a high form or 
bench, clothed in white camelot, with a kind of capouch or 
cape, that reaches down to the middle of their arms. This, 
at the pope’s court, is called an apostolical garment. The 
afore-mentioned priests have their right legs hare, and these are 
well washed over with soap and water, before they are present¬ 
ed to the pope to wash. When he has done, the treasurer, 
by his order, gives to each of them two medals, one of gold, 
the other of silver, weighing an ounce each. The major-do¬ 
mo now presents a napkin to the dean of the cardinal college, 
or one of the most ancient bishops of the apostolic college, 
who dries their feet. Afterwards, the pope returns to his seat, 
takes off his apron, washes his hands in water, which a lay¬ 
man of the highest quality, then present, pours out to him, 
and afterwards wipes them with a napkin, which is presented 
to him by the chief cardinal bishop. This being done, the 
pope again puts on his cope and mitre, and sings the Lord’s 
prayer, and several others in Latin; after which he goes into 
the vestry, where he leaves his pontifical vestments, and with¬ 
draws to his apartment, accompanied by the cardinals. 

The above ceremony is performed nearly after the same 
manner in the rest of the churches in Rome, as well as in 
other places, by the bishops and curates of parishes. The 
place where the ceremony is performed, must be adorned and 
perfumed with flowers and odoriferous herbs ; and there must 
pe at least one table in form of an altar, neatly covered. The 
cross must be veiled with white, to denote that purity of Avhich 
the ceremony of washing the feet is a type; and as every thing 
must have an allusion to that ceremony, the rituals observe, 
that the candles which are lighted at this solemn act must be 
made of the whitest wax. The credence tables, and the ba¬ 
sins into which the water is poured, must also be adorned with 
flowers. 

The thirteen priests, whose feet have been washed by the 
pope, and who are on that day called apostles, are an hour af¬ 
terwards carried into a beautiful apartment in the Vatican, in 
which the thirteen priests are entertained with a most splendid 
dinner. They are no sooner seated, than the pope comes in, 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


347 


and presents to each of them the first dish, and afterwards 
pours out to each the first glass of wine; during which he 
discourses to them with great familiarity, and grants them se¬ 
veral privileges. 

When the pope has withdrawn, his preacher in ordinary be¬ 
gins a sermon in the above-mentioned apartment, while the 
thirteen priests are sitting at dinner, in lieu of the spiritual lec¬ 
ture usual at meals in all ecclesiastical societies. The preach¬ 
er who officiates on this occasion, is the same that generally 
preaches once a week before the pope in his chamber during 
Lent and Advent. On this occasion the pope sits in a gallery, 
unseen by any person, and the cardinals sit round it, clothed 
in purple copes, as in the consistory. The ceremony ends 
with a sumptuous entertainment, which his holiness gives to 
the cardinals; and the whole is heightened with a fine con¬ 


cert of music. It is thus that Rome beholds annually renew¬ 
ed the image of the Lord’s Supper with his apostles. 

At Rome, the Holy Oils are blessed on holy Thursday, at 
which time those of the preceding year are burnt. The cere¬ 
mony is performed with great solemnity, after 
having first reconciled the penitents to the Church. t ^ ie oils. ° 
After nones, or the ninth hour, the officiating 
priest clothes himself in white, and puts on his sandals, &c. 
The canons, the several ministers of the altar, seven deacons, 
seven sub-deacons, and twelve priests, are likewise clothed in 
white, and all walk in procession to the altar. Omitting the 
various genuflexions, prayers, and anthems, which follow the 
procession, w r e shall only observe, that the officiating priest 
blesses, consecrates, and exorcises, three sorts of oil. He first 
performs the ceremony on that of the infirm, or on that which 
is used in extreme unction, exorcisms, &c.; afterwards on that 
of the chrism; and, lastly, on that of the catechumens; and 
the whole is closed with a salutation, which the officiating 
priest and the ministers who assist at the consecration make 
to these sanctified oils, saying, Ave sanctum oleum ,— Hail , 
holy oil , See. After this, the new-made oils are carried in 
procession into the sacristy, where the officiating priest w r ashes 
his hands, then sings mass, and gives the blessing. 


Good Friday is distinguished in various pla- q 00 j 
ces by ceremonies of great splendour, of which day. 
the following may serve as examples: 

At Courtray, there is a commemorative procession, on 
Good-Friday, of our Saviour to Mount Calvary. The city 
magistrates give five and twenty livres to a poor man, who re¬ 
presents the suffering Saviour; and the monks assure him of 


348 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CIIURCH. 


certain salvation, in case he happen to die under the blows 
that are given him in this ceremony. The procession first 
assembles in the parish-church, and the mock saviour is 
brought into the sacristy, where he is clothed with a purple 
robe, his loins girded with a thick rope, and his head crowned 
with thorns ; after which he is made to walk hare-foot, with 
a kind of pack-saddle bound around his neck. On each side 
of this collar, six ropes are put, which are to be fastened to a 
wooden cross of great weight, which the voluntary martyr has 
now laid upon his shoulders; and thus equipped, he rambles 
up and down the whole city. Six Capuchins, who walk at 
his right hand, draw the six ropes which are fixed on that side 
of the pack-saddle; and the other six are drawn by as many 
Recollets, or Franciscans ; so that the poor fellow is so dragged 
and hauled by the twelve friars, that he is continually stum¬ 
bling, and is almost pulled to pieces. This poor mock saviour 
would have a terrible ordeal to go through, were it not for a 
sham Simon the Cyrenian, who, very luckily, comes just in 
time to free him from his torments. The poor wretch, before 
he gets into the church is half killed; however, notwithstand¬ 
ing the kicks and bufferings which the people and the mimic 
Jews bestow upon him, he is so thoroughly persuaded of the 
merits of his sufferings, and that they will procure him an 
eternity of bliss, that he bears all his torments without the 
least murmur or complaint. 

The procession at Brussels, in which the crucifixion of our 
Saviour is represented, is no less extraordinary in its circum- 
. stances. Both the city and the court endeavour 

at Brussels to honour to this solemnity; and it is perform¬ 

ed in the church of'the Austin-friars, at the foot 
of the altar. The persons who form the procession assemble 
in St. Gudila’s, the cathedral church, by eight in the morning, 
and the brotherhood of Mercy come thither in their proper 
habits, bare-footed, and their faces masked; some walking 
with drums covered with black cloth. After the brotherhood, 
a great number of prisoners come forward, each of whom 
drags after him an iron cannon ball, chained to his foot; next 
come several Austin friars, dressed in Jewish habits, in the 
midst of whom is a man, who is always a criminal, (but par¬ 
doned for the part he then acts,) bound and fettered, crowned 
with thorns, and dressed in a purple robe. Then several 
trumpets come forward, and after them the prebends, the 
priests, and a multitude of people. In this equipage they all 
crowd into the church, where the concourse is generally so 
great, that the multitudes are obliged to stand without. 



Confession, p. 3G8. 










































































































































































































ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


349 


Iii the church a large scaffold is erected, and a cross, 
twenty feet in height, is set upon it: the person who repre¬ 
sents the crucified Saviour, ascends this scaffold, and is follow¬ 
ed by those who represent the Jews, with hammers, nails, and 
ropes in their hands. The Brotherhood of Mercy crowd 
round the scaffold, and the ladies have high seats prepared 
for them; the common people standing below in the pit. The 
mock Jews now strip the pretended Christ of his ornaments, 
lay him along the scaffold, and cast dice for his garments; 
which being done, they strip him to his shirt. Lastly, he is 
fixed on the cross, by tying his hands and feet with leathern 
thongs which are nailed to the cross ; and the better to imi¬ 
tate our Saviour’s sufferings, they put little bladders, filled 
with blood, under the thongs, which being pierced by the 
nails, the blood is seen to trickle from his hands and feet! 
This is the very pathos of this pious farce ; for at the sight of 
the blood, the hearts of the people are moved, and the most 
devout beat their breasts, while the monks sing anthems suit¬ 
able to the occasion. 

At Venice, on Good-Friday, the holy sacrament is carried in 
procession, about nine or ten at night, with the utmost solemnity: 
it is laid in a coffin, covered with black velvet, and ’ Venice, 
in this manner is carried round the square of St. 

Mark. St. Didier informs us, “ That there cannot be a finer sight 
than this square then affords. Two large flambeaux of white 
wax are set at each window of the palace Della Procuratia, 
which goes round the square. This double range of flambeaux, 
and those which are set over the church gate, are to light the 
several processions of the fraternities, and the neighbouring 
parishes, who go into the square. Here the penitents appear 
in masquerade, and beat themselves till the blood follows the 
blows. For this purpose they have scourges made of a great 
number of little sharp cords, which they hold with both their 
hands, and dipped in a pot filled with vinegar. They strike 
themselves on the back with so much order, and in such ex¬ 
act cadence, that they must necessarily have studied the art 
very much, to be so very expert in it. 

Here follows the order which is observed in this procession. 
There are three or four hundred men, all of them holding 
thick torches of white wax, six feet long, and weighing at least 
twelve or fifteen pounds each. These walk two and two, with 
a like number of persons, each holding a lantern, and walking 
between the torches in such a manner, that the spectator sees 
alternately a flambeau and a lantern. They are all clothed 
in black or white serge, accordingto their fraternities, having 
30 






350 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


a large-cow], two feet in length, and terminating in a point, 
which hangs down on their backs. Their lanterns are very- 
large, and are fixed to the end of sticks ; each has several ta¬ 
pers in it, which gives a great light, the lanterns being made 
of very clear glass. As there are a great number of glass 
houses in and about Venice, some of them are made in a very 
odd shape, and are so heavy, that one man is hardly able to 
carry them. Some are made in the shape of stars, or like 
suns, with a great number of rays darting from them, and are 
six feet in diameter. The glasses are fixed in with pieces of 
iron and lead, gilt: others are made in the shape of roses, full 
and half moons, comets, pyramids, crosses, globes, eagles with 
extended wings, &c. In the midst of these flambeaux and 
lanterns the standard is placed, and afterwards the cross, with 
a crucifix four feet high, covered with crape; and a nosegay 
at the foot of it, as broad as a half bushel. The several fra¬ 
ternities strive to rival each other in the singularity and beauty 
of their flowers, as well as in the form they give to their nose¬ 
gays. The Battuti walk before the cross,, scourging them¬ 
selves by starts, and walking backwards, having their eyes 
always fixed on the crucified Saviour. After the cross the re¬ 
lics follow, carried on litters covered with flowers and tapers. 
On both sides of the cross, several persons walk with long 
flambeaux in their hands, and large silver candlesticks, with 
several candles in them, fixed on a long pole. Afterwards, a 
chorus of voices is heard, and the clergy follow; then come 
the guardian, the deputy-guardian, and all the brethren of the 
fraternity, each having a torch in his hand. 

The ceremony of the adoration of the cross is also perform¬ 
ed on Good-Friday. After nones, the officiating priest goes 

‘Adoration U P t0 ^ a ^ ar > P rece ded by the acolytes, without 
of the Cross tapers, and the rest of the ministers of the altar: 

they first kneel before it, and bow to the cross, a 
duty at all times necessary, but particularly on this day. Im¬ 
mediately after the officiating priest and his ministers have 
repeated on their knees certain prayers in a low tone, the 
acolytes cover the table of the altar, and lay the mass-book on 
a black cushion, on the epistle-side. This done, the master of 
the ceremonies makes a signal to the officiating priest and his 
ministers to rise up; then the acolytes take aw*ay the cushions 
that were knelt upon, and the black cloth, while the choir 
and the congregation say their prayers upon their knees. 
The minister who is to officiate now goes up to the altar, 
kisses it as usual, and afterwards either repeats, or sings with 
a low voice, the several lessons of the day, which his minis- 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


351 


ters repeat after him. Prayers being ended, the officiating 
priest goes to the epistle-side, the deacon takes the cross, which 
is veiled, from the altar, and presents it to the officiating priest, 
who after he has uncovered the top of the cross, elevates it 
with both hands, at the same time singing these words,— 
Ecce lignum crucis,—Behold the wood of the cross. Then 
all the congregation rise up with their heads bare, and the 
ministers of the altar sing as follows: In quo salus mundi 
pependit ,— On which the Saviour of the world was extended 
The choir answers; Venite et adoremus,—Let us come and 
adore. Here, every one falls upon his knees, the officiating 
priest excepted. A moment after, they all rise up ; the officia¬ 
ting priest uncovers the right arm of the crucifix, and the head 
of Jesus ; shows it, elevates it, and says, Ecce lignum , <fyc. but 
louder than before. Lastly, he goes up towards the middle of 
the altar, turns towards the congregation, and with a very loud 
voice repeats the same words, at the same time elevating the 
crucifix, and showing it quite uncovered. 

The acolytes now spread a purple piece of cloth, or carpet, 
in the midst of the chancel, and before the steps of the altar. 
A purple cushion, and a silken veil embroidered with gold, 
are laid upon the altar. The officiating priest carries the cross 
thither, and kneeling down, lays it on the cushion, and bows 
to it. Preceded by his ministers, who attend upon him at this 
august ceremony, he now returns to his place, where he puts 
off his sandals and his mitre. He afterwards advances to¬ 
wards the cross, in the midst of his ministers, who are like¬ 
wise without shoes or sandals: kneels down thrice, repeats 
thrice a short prayer, and at last kisses the holy wood, which 
the ministers do likewise. After this, having bowed to the 
cross, they all return and put on their sandals. 

The rest of the dignitaries of the church, each in his rank, 
now perform' the same ceremony, and also the people. In 
those countries where the women do not sit with the men, a 
priest having a black stole over his surplice, goes and pre¬ 
sents them the crucifix to kiss and adore. 

The same ceremonies are performed at the pope’s chapel. 
After his holiness has kissed the crucifix, he makes an offer¬ 
ing of twenty-five ducats of gold at least, which he puts into 
a vessel of the same metal, laid near the left arm of the cru¬ 
cifix. After the cardinals, emperors, and kings go and wor¬ 
ship the cross. 

The ceremony of the adoration being ended, the deacon sa¬ 
lutes the cross, elevates it, and in this posture carries it to the 
altar, where he places it, observing to bow the knee before it 


352 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


As he walks along, the officiating priest stands up while it 
passes before him; but the rest of the ministers of the altar 
remain upon their knees. 

The ceremonies on Easter eve are at St. John’s de Lateran ; 
where, after the blessing of the fire and water, the catechu- 

Easter Eve mens who are °f a g e > are baptized ill the Bap- 
tisterium of Constantine; the Pope assists so¬ 
lemnly at the office in the Apostolical chapel, and a cardinal 
priest sings mass. 

On Easter-eve, the ornaments of the churches and altars 
are changed ; the black, with which the latter were covered, 
is taken off, and white put on ; the tabernacle is also uncover¬ 
ed, and covered with white, but so, that the purple still ap¬ 
pears on the outward side, till the Litanies are ended. In like 
manner, after that part of the service has been celebrated, a 
carpet, or some rich covering, is laid on the steps of the altar, 
and the images are unveiled. Then six large tapers are got 
ready for solemn mass, and likewise all the lights which are 
to burn before the altar. 

On the gospel-side of the altar, a great candlestick is placed, 
which must be made in the shape of an angel, if possible, and 
very neatly wrought. In this candlestick, the paschal candle 
is fixed; it must be made of the whitest wax, and weigh about 
eight or ten pounds; five holes are made in it, in the shape of 
a cross, to be ffilecj with five grains of frankincense, gilt over, 
and made in the shape of a pine-apple. To conclude, some 
edifying subject is painted on the taper, such as the patron of 
the place, or any other saint. As every thing must correspond 
with the solemnity of the day, the ritual ordains, that the reed 
with which the tapers are lighted, shall also be gilt and adorn¬ 
ed with flowers. The three small candles which are fixed to 
the top of the reed, represent the Trinity in Unity, and must 
therefore join together at the basis, i. e. at the end which 
touches the reed. 

It is ordained by the rituals, that baptism is not to be admin¬ 
istered for a week before Easter-eve, unless a child’s life be 
in danger. On this eve is likewise performed the ceremony 
of blessing the new fire. 

The church being strewed with flowers, at the ninth hour 
the old fire is put out, and at the same time an acolyte must 
light the new one on the outside of the church. 

The officiating priest, dressed in his saceTdotal vestments, ' 
and attended by the ministers of the altar and the clergy, now 
walks out of the church in procession, and goes to the place 
where the blessing of the fire is to be performed. The holy 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


353 


water-pot is carried thither in great pomp, as also the frankin¬ 
cense, the sub-deacon’s purple maniple, and the mass-book. 
The sub-deacon walks singly with the cross, and is followed 
by the clergy. When every one has taken his place, the 
ofFiciatingpriest uncovers himself,and pronounces these words: 
Dominus vobiscum ,— The Lord be with you, fyc. as usual. He 
afterwards repeats the prayer, Deus qui filium tuum , Spc., in 
the midst of which he makes the sign of the cross over the 
fire: he likewise blesses the five grains of frankincense, which 
are put on a plate, which an acolyte holds lifted up to his 
breast. In the mean time, the thuriferary puts some coals, 
after being blessed, into the thurible, into which the officiating 
priest throws some frankincense and blesses it; then the dea¬ 
con gives him the sprinkler, kissing it at the same time. The 
officiating priest then sprinkles thrice with holy water, the 
fire which he had just before blessed, and as he is sprinkling, 
says these words, Asperges me Domine. He incenses the 
sacred fire thrice, in the manner above-mentioned. Then one 
of the acolytes, or a sacristan, takes a small candle, and lights 
it at the new fire. 

Having gone in procession to the place where the ceremony 
was performed, they return from it in the same order; but the 
deacon first puts off his purple ornaments, and puts on white, 
whereas the sub-deacon takes a purple maniple. The only 
particular circumstance in the procession is, that the deacon 
walks in it with the above-mentioned reed in his hand, and 
the sub-deacon has a small candle shut up in a lantern. The 
procession having arrived at the church-door, makes a halt, 
when the deacon kisses the reed, and the acolyte lights one 
of the candles fixed upon the reed with that which is in the 
lantern. Then they all fall upon their knees, and the deacon 
elevates the reed, and sings the anthem, which begins as fol¬ 
lows ; Lumen Chrisli , 4* c - i- e - light of Christ. He 
liedits a second candle in the middle of the Church, with the 
same solemnity; and the third is lighted on the steps of the 
altar. There they must perform certain acts of devotion, or 
rather ceremonies, one of which is The Blessing of the 
Paschal Candle. The deacon having asked the officiating 
priest’s blessing, goes to the desk, on which he lays the mass- 
book, and incenses it thrice, but neither signs himself nor the 
mass-book with the sign of the cross. The rest of the minis¬ 
ters range themselves round the mass-book in the manner 
following:—The cross-bearer stands with the cross turned 
towards the officiating priest; the thuriferary is at the dea¬ 
con’s right hand; the other acolyte, who has the reed in his 
30* 


354 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


hand, and lie who bears the five grains of incense, are at his 
left. When the deacon begins to sing the lesson called the 
Prceconium, which begins Exultet, <fyc. the officiating priest 
and his ministers uncover themselves; and in the midst of 
their chanting, at these words, Curvat Imperia , he puts the 
five grains of incense in the form of a cross, into the taper. 
Afterwards, at certain words, Rutilans ignis accendit, Ac. 
adapted to the mysteries of the ceremony, he lights the paschal 
taper; and whilst he is chanting, an acolyte lights all the rest 
of the candles with the new fire. 

This ceremony being ended, the deacon returns to the sa¬ 
cristy, where he puts off his white ornaments, and resumes 
the purple stole and the maniple of the same colour. After 
the blessing of the tapers, follow the lessons called Prophecies ; 
and after them a verse is sung by the choristers, called Tractus. 
Singing of the prayers concludes this ceremony. 

It is considered that the blessing of the paschal candle is of 
great antiquity in the Church, and that Pope Zozimus in the 
beginning of the fifth century, commanded that one should be 
lighted in every parish. This candle mast remain on the 
gospel-side from Easter-eve to Ascension-day. 

The officiating priest and his ministers now go in proces¬ 
sion to bless the baptismal font; the cross and taper-bearers 
go on one side of it, and the minister who offi- 
Blessing of ciates stands opposite to them, in such a manner 

Fonts a ^ Sma ^ ^ iat ^ ont stan( ^ s between him and the cross. 

The other ecclesiastics range themselves on each 
side: an acolyte stands at a little distance behind the officia¬ 
ting priest, at his right hand, holding a napkin to wipe his 
hands, and a thuriferary stands next in order to him. 

The minister who officiates then uncovers himself, and falls 
on his knees, with all the others, the cross and taper-bearers 
excepted. After an anthem is sung suitable to the solemnity, 
he rises up, and turning towards the font, pronounces the 
blessing, making the sign of the cross that way. He after¬ 
wards exorcises the water, makes a cross in it with his hands, 
and pours some out of the vessel towards the four cardinal 
points of the horizon. This done, he wipes his hands with 
the napkin given him by the acolyte, and repeats a prayer, at 
the conclusion of which he blows thrice on the water, and in 
three different places, always observing to do it crossways. 
He also plunges a taper thrice into the same water, observing 
to sink it deeper the second time than the first, and the third 
more than the second, saying at each immersion the following 
words ; Dcscendat in hanc plenitudinem fontis virtus Spiritus 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


355 


Sancti , i. e. May the Spirit of the Holy Ghost descend into 
this water. The assistants now sprinkle the people with a 
little of this water, and they also send a priest or a sacristan to 
sprinkle the houses therewith. 

After this ceremony, the officiating minister perfumes the 
font thrice with frankincense ; after which he takes the oil of 
the catechumens, and pours it on the water cross-ways, and 
does the same with the clirisma. Being poured into the water 
in equal proportions, and always cross-ways, he afterwards 
mixes them with his right hand, in order that they may be 
diffused equally over every part of the font. 

The font being blessed, the celebrant goes and receives the 
catechumens at the church-gate; and clothes himself in white, 
to perform the ceremony of their baptism. 

The litanies are now sung, and a solemn mass and vespers 
are said. Whilst the litanies are chanting, the host, which 
till now was hidden, is taken out and brought to the altar; all 
the tapers are then lighted, the altar is covered with several 
ornaments, the images are unveiled, and the seat of the offici¬ 
ating priest is covered. The latter, together with his priests, 
now resume their white ornaments, and prepare themselves 
for the celebration of a solemn mass. When the officiating 
minister begins the Gloria in Excelsis, all the bells fall a ring¬ 
ing ; for which purpose a signal is given from the cathedral. 

This procession is singularly imposing, but a minute ac¬ 
count of it will altogether exceed the limits of this work. 
Among others, the procession includes bishops, p roceS sion 
archbishops, consecrated patriarchs, ambassadors, the Blessed 
cardinals, &c. &c. The pope, who comes next Sacrament, 
after the ambassadors, is carried in a vehicle, in 
which he seems to be on his knees, though he is really seated. 
He has on a rich cope, and over it a pall made of cloth of sil¬ 
ver, which covers his shoulders and arms like a scarf. Be¬ 
fore him is set a wooden stool gilt, with a cushion of red 
crimson velvet, embroidered with gold lace; on which is laid 
the expositor, in which the Host is contained, which he bears 
with his own hands. 

The canopy over the pope’s head is carried by the patri¬ 
archs, archbishops, and bishops, at their first setting out from 
St. Peter’s ; and afterwards, at their setting out from the Por¬ 
tico of the Vatican, by the prime nobility of the neighbouring 
nations, such as the Florentines and the Siennese, who relieve 
one another till the procession is almost ended ; when the Ro¬ 
man conservators, and the prior of the captains of the several 
districts, take it and carry it into church. 


35G 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


The Swiss, who go on each side of the Pope, are cased in 
iron from head to foot, each man carrying a great two-handed 
sword unsheathed in his hand. After this guard of cuiras¬ 
siers, the prelates advance in their several ranks, viz. the 
apostolical prothonotaries, the auditors, the clerks of the cham¬ 
ber, the generals of the orders, the referendaries, or officers in 
chancery, of the signature of grants, and of justice; and, lastly, 
the several companies of light-horse, four in rank, and the horses 
covered with very rich trappings. These close the march. 

Sometimes his holiness walks on foot in this procession, in 
order to set an example of greater respect and veneration for 
the holy sacrament, which he carries in his hands. Urban 
VIII., and some other popes, formerly carried it on horseback. 

When the consecrated Host is not carried by his holiness, 
the dean of the sacred college, or the eldest cardinal, bears it 
instead of him, but is on foot. And on these occasions, the 
princes and ambassadors do not assist at it. 

The procession generally lasts about four hours, although 
it has not above a mile to go; but then they walk with the 
utmost gravity, and extremely slow. While the procession 
continues, the Castle of St. Angelo makes a triple discharge 
of all its artillery. The first salvo is made when his holiness 
goes out of the chapel Paulina, and takes in his hand the ex¬ 
positor, in which the Host is contained. The great culverine 
of St. Peter’s is then fired off to give the signal. The second 
salvo is made when the pope goes out from the portico of the 
great square, before the Apostolical Palace; and the third 
when he enters into that of St. James. The pope’s guards 
are all under arms during the procession, and two of the light- 
horse are posted, with their lances couched, at the corner of 
every street through which the procession passes, to preserve 
order. 

During the procession of the Blessed Sacrament, the bells 
of the cathedral, and of the other churches before which it 
passes, are rung. The streets must be swept, and strewed 
with flowers and green leaves, and the outsides of the houses 
and churches must be hung with tapestry. In some parts of 
Italy, triumphal arches are raised, adorned with emblems and 
mottoes, in honour of the blessed sacrament. The custom of 
laying carpets in the streets through which the procession is to 
pass, was observed by the ancient Romans on these occasions. 
They likewise had repository altars, as is now the custom, 
erected in the streets, for their processions to make a halt at. 

The officiating priest consecrates two large hosts, one of 
which is to be used in the procession. Mass being ended, the 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


357 


tapers are distributed, and a sub-deacon, clothed in vestments 
suitable to the festival, comes out of the sacristy, preceded by 
two incense-bearers in surplices, with the thurible in one hand 
and the navicula in the other. The two incense-bearers join 
the sub-deacon, and stand by him on the outside of the chancel 
of the altar, till the march begins. Six clerks in surplices, 
with lighted torches in their hands, now range themselves on 
each side of the foot of the altar ; and those who are to carry 
the canopy set themselves at the entrance of the chancel. 

The last Gospel being read, the officiating priest makes his 
genuflexions, having the deacon and sub-deacon on each side 
of him, and afterwards goes to the epistle side; then descends 
to the bottom of the steps, takes off his maniple and chasuble, 
and puts on a white cope. The deacon and sub-deacon also 
put off their maniples, and then they all three go and make a 
genuflexion on both knees, bending their bodies very low in 
the middle of the last step of the altar, where they continue a 
little time in prayer; after which the deacon rises up, and 
makes another genuflexion; and this is in order to uncover 
the expositor, and place it on the corporal, or piece of fine 
linen used at mass. Here follows a third genuflexion; and 
then he comes back, and stands near the officiating priest, who 
rises up, and withdraws a little towards the gospel-side; and 
after having thrice put incense into each thurible, he falls 
down upon his knees, with the deacon, who is at his right- 
hand, and the sub-deacon at the left. The former gives the 
thurible to the officiating priest, who incenses the blessed sa¬ 
crament thrice, making a low bow both before and after. This 
triple incensing being over, the sub-deacon spreads the veil 
over the shoulders of the officiating priest, while the deacon 
goes up to the altar, takes the expositor from thence, which 
he gives to the officiating priest, and afterwards covers his 
hands with the extremities of the veil that lies over his should¬ 
ers ; after which, the officiating priest, having the pix, or ex¬ 
positor, in his hands, turns about to the right, and his minis¬ 
ters after him, when they all three continue on one of the steps 
of the altar, till such time as the whole procession has wheel¬ 
ed off, and they begin the Pange Lingua. 

As the cross is carried before the pope whenever he appears 
in public at Rome, so the host goes before him when he is 
upon a journey ; for the sovereign pontiffs have j^ anner 0 f 
appropriated to themselves, alone, the privilege carrying; the 
of having the host carried before them whenever Host before 
they travel. Several instances of the host going the Pope on a* 
before the pope are recorded, but nothing can J ourne y‘ 


358 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


enter into comparison with the pomp with which it was car¬ 
ried into Ferrara, in 1598, when Clement VIII. went to take 
possession of that city after the death of Alphonso of Este. 
The host was carried in procession out of Rome, in a mag¬ 
nificent tabernacle, which was carried by eight canons of the 
Vatican upon a kind of litter, and under a magnificent canopy 
embroidered with gold, silk, &c. The brotherhood of the 
Blessed Sacrament, with each a torch in his hand, walked be¬ 
fore the host. The religious orders, the musicians of St. 
Peter’s chapel, and the clergy, with our Saviour’s cross car¬ 
ried before them, followed the brotherhood. Afterwards, the 
Host appeared under the canopy, carried by eight of the private 
chamberlains of his holiness, and guarded by a body of Swiss, 
and other soldiers. After the host, his holiness appeared, 
with a torch in hand; and next to him the sacred college, the 
prelates, and the Roman nobility, all of them holding tapers in 
their hands; and followed by a body of troops. In this man¬ 
ner, the host w r as transported out of Rome. 

It was carried to Ferrara, on the hack of a beautiful horse, 
which was adorned with the most gaudy trappings. His holi¬ 
ness, before he began the march, bent his knee before the host, 
and did not rise up till it was out of sight. The mules em¬ 
ployed to carry the baggage, and the lacqueys of his holiness, 
carrying his arms, marched at the head ; these were re¬ 
inforced by several companies of soldiers, with their trumpets 
sounding as they marched. After this, eight led horses came 
forward, and they were followed by the domestics of the car¬ 
dinals and prelates, all of them on horseback. 

Next came two couriers belonging to the Apostolic See, the 
band of music of the pope’s chapel, two esquires, two mace- 
bearers, followed by the master of the ceremonies, and the two 
clerks of the pontifical chapel. Each of the latter carried a 
lantern, fixed at the end of a lance, in order to light the host, 
which followed immediately after. Two of the grooms of his 
holiness held the reins of the horse on which he rode, and the 
host was guarded by a body of armed Swiss. Afterwards 
came the sacristan, with his white staff in his hand, the badge 
of his office, and followed by a great number of Roman 
prelates. 

After these, another band of musicians, and a company of 
lacqueys belonging to the baggage, appeared, and five hun¬ 
dred horsemen, in very magnificent habits, divided likewise 
into companies. The barber, tailor, and shoemaker of his 
holiness, joined in the procession, according to their rank. 
Four chamberlains followed them, carrying four pontifical 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


S59 


caps, made of purple, at the ena of four pikes. All the no¬ 
bility of Rome and of Ferrara assisted also in this procession, 
dressed in a very sumptuous manner, and after these came 
the acolytes, the chiefs of the apostolical chamber, the auditors 
of the rota, the sub-deacons, the orators, the bishop of Ferrara 
with his clergy, his holiness’s' key-bearers, his chief master of 
the ceremonies, his cross-bearer, twenty clerks of the cathedral 
of Ferrara, each having a lighted torch in his h&nd. 

The host, when the procession departed from Rome, and 
during the whole journey, was carried along with the bag¬ 
gage; but at the entrance into Ferrara it was placed in the 
centre of the procession.—The pope’s chief-treasurer had bags 
fixed on each side of his saddle, out of which he threw money 
to the people. After the treasurer, came thirty youths of the 
highest quality in Ferrara, walking on foot, bare-headed, 
dressed in cloth of silver, with little black cloaks, embroidered 
with silk, and caps in their hands, enriched with golden roses, 
pearls, and precious stones. After this shining troop, came 
Pope Clement himself, clothed in a robe of very rich silk, and 
having on his head a crown enriched with iewels of immense 
value. He was carried on the shoulders of eight tall lac¬ 
queys, clothed in long scarlet robes, under a canopy of the 
finest crimson velvet, embroidered with gold, surrounded with 
a double range of guards very richly dressed, and followed by 
his Swiss, and an auditor of the rota , who carried his triple 
crown after him, having on each side of him the great cham¬ 
berlain and the chief butler. A great number of coaches and 
horsemen followed. 

During the whole march, the faithful sung anthems and 
motets, repeated prayers, made signs of the cross, and gave 
and received blessings. In a word, they practised all the ex¬ 
terior tokens of devotion. They marched very slowly, and the 
clergy both secular and regular, in all the places through which 
the procession passed in the night-time, advanced to meet them, 
with a body of the militia at their head. After the clergy came 
the magistrates and other persons of distinction; and at the 
entrance into the city, the trumpets sounded, and the air echoed 
with spiritual songs, whilst the people crowded from all parts 
to come and adore the Host. People of the highest rank, at 
the same time, strove who should first present his holiness 
with the canopy. 

On Christmas-eve, before the office of the ensuing festival 
begins, the sovereign pontiff annually blesses a gold-hilted 
sword , inlaid with precious stones, wrought in the form of a 
dove; with the scabbard and belt enriched in like manner, and 


360 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


Bies S ino- G f a Ducal hat fixed on the point of it. This hat 
of the & sword * s ninde of purple-coloured silk, furred with er- 
andof the Du- mine and surrounded with a hat-band, made in 
cal hat fixed on the form of a crown adorned with jewels, the 
its point. and sword are both sent by his holiness to 

some potentate, for whom he has a peculiar affection, or to a 
great general, who may have merited such a distinction for his 
bravery, exerted against the enemies of Christianity. His 
holiness performs the ceremony of blessing them, clothed with 
the albe, the amict, and the stole, before he puts on the red 
cope, which he wears at the office of Christmas-night. A 
clerk of the chamber presents to him the sword, and the hat 
fixed on the point of it; and after having pronounced the bless¬ 
ing, he sprinkles and incenses them both with holy-water. 
This being done, the pope goes to his chapel, preceded by the 
same clerk of the chamber, who walks with the sword and 
the hat before the pontifical cross. If the person for whom 
these presents are designed happens to be at Rome, he must 
receive them from the pope’s own hand, observing to kiss both 
that and his foot. His holiness declares to him that the 
sword denotes the power of our Saviour, and the victory 
which he has gained over the devil. Whilst the sword is 
girding on, his holiness addresses the person so honoured as 
follows:—“ By this sword we declare you the defender of 
the Holy Apostolical See, and of the pontifical sovereignty: the 
protector of the Holy See against the enemies of the faith, 
and the bulwark of the Church. May your arm, by the vir¬ 
tue of this sword, triumph over the enemies of the Holy See, 
and of the name of Christ Jesus: may the Holy Ghost, 
represented by the dove, descend on your head, and protect 
you against those for whom God prepares his judgments, be¬ 
fore the Holy Roman Catholic Church, and the Holy See 
Apostolic,” &c. Such is the formula appointed by Sixtus IV. 
for this ceremony. 

Sometimes the person to whom the pope presents the conse¬ 
crated sword is invited to read one of the lessons of the office; 
in which case, a clerk of the chamber girds him with the 
sword over the surplice, clothes him with a white chasuble, 
and puts the hat upon his head. After this, the master of 
the ceremonies conducts him to the steps of the throne of his 
holiness, where he bows to the altar, and then to the pope ; and 
after having returned the consecrated hat to the master of the 
ceremonies, he draws the consecrated sword out of the scabbard, 
touches the ground with the point of it, waves it thrice aloft, 
and alter having brought it back gently over the left arm, put3 



The Viaticum, p.365. 



Baptism in the Roman Catholic Church, p. 362. 



























































































































































































































ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


361 


it again into the scabbard. This ceremony being concluded 
he goes to the desk, and sings the fifth lesson of the office, 
having first received the pope’s blessing. When the singing 
is finished, he goes and kisses the feet of his holiness; which 
done, his sacerdotal vestments are taken off, and the hat is 
again fixed on the point of the sword, which a gentleman 
holds with the point upwards till the office is ended. If the 
person for whom the sword is consecrated, should not be pre¬ 
sent at Rome, or is not able to read, the Romish ceremonial 
ordains that a clerk of the chamber must put on the surplice, 
and sing at the desk in his stead; and that afterwards (if pre¬ 
sent) both of them shall go and kiss the feet of his holiness. 

The person to whom the sword has been presented, is then 
conducted back to his house in pomp, by the nobility of the 
court of Rome. The sword is carried before him, held aloft, 
with the hat fixed on the point of it. 


SEC. II.-SACRAMENTS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


The Roman Catholic Church acknowledges seven sacra¬ 
ments, which number, according to the catechism 
of the Council of Trent, is established by the Sacraments^ 
scriptures, by the tradition of the fathers, and 
the authority of councils. 

These sacraments are accompanied with several solemn 
and public ceremonies, with which the Church has thought fit 
to heighten them, notwithstanding they are not an essential 
part of them, since they can subsist without them; however, 
they say that it w T ould be a sin to omit them, unless in cases of 
necessity. Hence it is that the Council of Trent has pro¬ 
nounced anathema against those who say that the ministers of 
the sacraments may, without sin, despise, or omit, at pleasure, 
the several ceremonies received in the Church. “ We are as¬ 
sured,” says the Cathechism of the Council of Trent, “ that 
these ceremonies give us a more strict idea of, and, as it were, 
set before our eyes the effects which result from these sacra¬ 
ments, and imprint the sanctity which attends them more 
strongly on the minds of the faithful. They raise the minds 
of such as observe them religiously, to the contemplation of 
the most exalted things.” In a word, we are assured that 
they excite and increase in ns a true faith and spirit of charity. 

The sacrament of baptism is defined by the church as one 
instituted by Jesus Christ, in order to wash away original sin, 
and all those actual ones which we may have Baptlsm 
committed ; to communicate to mankind the spi- 


362 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


ritual regeneration and the grace of Jesus Christ; and to 
unite them as the living members to their head. 

The most essential part of the ceremony of baptism in the 
Catholic church is as follows:—At the church-door the priest 
first asks the godfather and godmother what child they present 
to the church? whether or no they are its true godfather and 
godmother ? If they be resolved to live and die in the true 
Catholic and Apostolic faith? And what name they intend to 
give it ? All profane names, as those of the heathens and their 
gods, must be rejected ; nevertheless, those of Hercules, Han¬ 
nibal, Achilles, Urania, Diana, &c. are common enough. A 
Catholic priest is authorized to change the name of a child 
who had been baptized Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob, by a Pro¬ 
testant minister. After the usual questions have been asked, 
the priest makes an exhortation to the godfather and godmo¬ 
ther, with regard to the devotion which ought to accompany 
the whole performance. The exhortation being ended, the 
priest continues the ceremony, and calling the child by the 
name that is to be given it, asks it as follows; What dost thou 
demand of the church ? To which the godfather answers, 
Faith. The priest adds, What is the fruit of faith ? The 
godfather answers, Eternal life. The priest continues; If 
you are desirous of obtaining eternal life , keep GocVs com - 
mandments : Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy 
heart , Spc. After which he breathes three times upon the 
child’s face, but must observe not to let the child breathe upon 
him; and at the same time says, Come out of this child , thou 
evil spirit , and make room for the Holy Ghost. 

This being done, with the thumb of his right hand he 
makes a cross on the child’s forehead, and afterwards another 
on its breast, pronouncing these words; Receive the sign of 
the cross on thy forehead , and in thine heart , Spc. Whereupon 
he takes off his cap, repeats a short prayer, and laying his 
hand gently on the child’s head, prays for him a second time. 
This second prayer being ended, the priest blesses the salt in 
case it was not blessed before ; which being done, he takes a 
little of it) puts it into the child’s mouth, pronouncing these 
words ; Receive the salt of vnsaom. He then repeats a third 
prayer; after which he puts on his cap, and exorcises the 
Prince of Darkness, commanding him to come forth out of 
him who is going to be baptized, &c. At the end of the ex¬ 
orcism, he again makes the sign of the cross on the child’s 
forehead, lays his hand on its head, and repeats another 
prayer. 

After this fourth prayer, the priest lays the end of the stole 




ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


363 


upon the child, and taking hold of his swaddling clothes by 
one corner, he brings it into the church ; the godfather and 
godmother enter at the same time, and repeat with the priest 
the Apostle’s Creed and the Lord’s Praj^er as they advance 
towards the font, which having reached, the priest exorcises 
the devil once ?%ain, and after the exorcism takes the saliva 
from his mouth, with the thumb of his right hand; with this 
he rubs the child’s ears and nostrils, and as he touches his 
right ear, repeats a Hebrew word, which signifies Do thou 
open ; the same which Jesus Christ said to the man who 
was born deaf and dumb. Lastly, the assistants pull off its 
swaddling clothes, or at least strip it below the shoulders; du¬ 
ring which the priest prepares the holy oils, &c. 

The godfather now takes the child, ready stripped, and 
holds it directly over the font; the godmother then takes it 
by the feet, or the middle; both observing to turn it towards 
the east: the priest now asks the child, “ Whether he re¬ 
nounces the devil and all his works, the pomps,” &c. The 
godfather answers in the affirmative. This renunciation used 
formerly to be made on the outside of the church. The priest 
then anoints the child between the shoulders, in the form of a 
cross, and after that, lays aside his purple stole, and puts on a 
white one; when the child is again questioned with respect to 
his belief, to which the godfather makes suitable answers in 
his name. These preliminaries being ended, the priest takes 
some of the baptismal water, which he pours thrice on the 
child’s head in the form of a cross, and as he pours it, says, 
M I baptize,” &c. taking care to mention one of the persons in 
the Trinity every time he pours it on. This being done, he 
anoints the top of the child’s head with the chrisma, in form 
of a cross, lays a piece of white linen upon its head, to re¬ 
present the white garment mentioned in Scripture, and puts a 
lighted taper into the child’s hand, or rather into that of the 
godfather. Such are the ceremonies of baptism, which the 
priest concludes with an exhortation; but if the child’s life 
be in danger, these ceremonies are omitted, upon condition that 
they shall be observed in case he recovers his health; but if 
he has all the symptoms of death upon him, the midwife bap¬ 
tizes the child without delay. 

Adult persons must, if possible, be baptized by the bishop 
himself; and the most proper time for this ceremony is Eas¬ 
ter, or Whits un-eve, which are the days appointed for baptism 
by the ancient church. The minister who baptizes, and the 
candidate for baptism, must both be fasting; but, there is but 
very little difference between the ceremony of the baptism of 



364 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


catechumens, and that of children. The priest signs the cat¬ 
echumen several times with the sign of the cross; first on the 
forehead, which implies that he must take upon himself the 
cross of Christ; on the ears, in order that he may open them 
to the divine precepts of the gospel; on the eyes, that he may 
see the light of God; on the nostrils, that h£ may smell the 
fragrant odour of Christ; on the mouth, that he may utter the 
words of life ; on the breast, that he may believe; on the naked 
shoulders, to the end that he may bear the yoke of the Lord. 
These signs of the cross are concluded by three more, which 
the priest makes over the whole person of the catechumen. 

The candidates for confirmation must be fasting, and con¬ 
sequently receive this sacrament in the morning, because it 

Confirmation. was at , that ‘ ime of da I? h ° St de ‘ 
scended on the apostles. 1 he bishop, before he 

begins the confirmation, proceeds to his private devotions, 
washes his hands, and puts on the white vestments; after 
which, he turns himself about to the candidates, who stand in 
the same order as at baptism, viz. the boys on the right, and 
the girls on the left. He next repeats a prayer; which being 
done, he sits down, and the candidates kneel before him. If 
the candidates for confirmation are very numerous, the bishop 
stands up, and the candidates stand on the steps of the chan¬ 
cel of the altar; each being supported under the arm by their 
godfathers. The bishop now asks the name of each candi¬ 
date, and has them registered, after which, he dips the thumb 
of his right hand into the chrisma, and therewith makes the 
sign of the cross upon their foreheads; at the same time giving 
a gentle blow on the cheek to the person confirmed, and say¬ 
ing “ Peace be with you.” Immediately after, the forehead 
of the person confirmed is bound with a slip of linen about 
the breadth of two fingers; and the bishop says to him, “ I 
confirm you by the chrisma of salvation, in the name of the 
Father,” &c. The ceremony ends with the blessing of the 
persons confirmed, which is done by the bishop, who make 3 
the sign of the cross upon them. 

The priest is the sole minister empowered to consecrate the 
Host, and the rest of the.ministers of the church are allowed 
only to prepare the things necessary for this sa- 
1 he Eucha- crament; he also has the privilege of communi¬ 
cating under both kinds, that is, of eating the 
bread and drinking the wine; whereas, the laity communicate 
only under one, viz. the bread; and it is said that this custom 
was introduced in order to prevent certain accidents, which 
degraded the dignity of the sacrament. One of these was, 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


365 


the overgrown whiskers and beards of some who received it, 
which, as they sometimes reached into the cup in which the 
blood of Jesus Christ was contained, might by that means 
make some good Christians sick at the stomach! 

Every Catholic ought to communicate at Christmas, Eas¬ 
ter, Whitsuntide, and Twelfth-tide; but every good one should, 
besides the seasons above-mentioned, receive the sacrament on 
Corpus Christi- day, All-Saints, the Assumption of the Blessed 
Virgin, the festival of his patron, and the anniversary of his 
baptism. They ought to receive, fasting; and be dressed in 
such a manner as best suits the Christian simplicity. 

The priests who present themselves to the communion, re¬ 
ceive the sacrament immediately after the deacon and sub¬ 
deacon, before any other person; and these must have a white 
stole over the surplice. The ministers who serve at the altar, 
communicate in the habits of their respective orders; but the 
acolytes and other clerks receive the Eucharist in their sur¬ 
plices. After this, the officiating priest goes down to the rails, 
in order to administer the sacrament to the laity; observing 
to begin with the person who stands first on the epistle-side. 
He makes the sign of the cross with the host on the person 
that is to receive, observing not to take his hand away till such 
time as the host is entirely in the mouth of the person receiv¬ 
ing. We shall not take notice of the prayers, or other par¬ 
ticulars, mentioned in the rituals. 

If, in administering the host, or consecrated wafer, the 
smallest bit of it should happen to fall on the ground, it must 
be taken up in the most respectful manner, and the place on 
which it fell must be covered, for fear of treading upon the 
least particle of it: they must afterwards scrape the floor, and 
throw the shavings into the sacristy, and wash the place very 
clean : if it should happen to fall upon the napkin, or the veil, 
<fec. such part of it must be washed, and the water thrown into 
the sacristy; if it fall on the vestments of the officiating priest, 
the part must be observed, and afterwards washed. 

The blessed sacrament is administered as a Viaticum , or 
provision for a journey, to those whose life is in danger. The 
sick person must receive it fasting, provided he Thc yj at p 
can do so with safety; and, if he be not able to C um. 
swallow the whole wafer, a piece of it may be 
given him, and afterwards some liquid ; but the host must no* 
be dipped in any liquid beforehand, on pretence that the sick 
person will be the better able to swallow it. 

In case the sick person throws up the wafer, and that the 
particles of it plainly appear, they must be put into a clean 
31* 


366 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


vessel, and carried to the church, and there deposited in some 
holy and decent place, “ till such time as they are corrupted, 
after which they shall be cast into the Sacrarium , or Piscina; 
but if the pieces are not to be distinguished, what he has 
vomited up must be wiped with pieces of tow, and these 
must afterwards be burnt, and the ashes thrown into the 
Sacrary.” The priest must take care not to give those the 
viaticum who are troubled with a continual coughing, or are 
not able to swallow or consume the host, for fear of any acci¬ 
dent unsuitable to the dignity of the sacrament. 

Whenever the viaticum is to be carried to any place, care 
must be taken to make the chamber in which the sick person 
lies, very clean : and also all those parts of the house through 
which the host is to pass; and they should likewise be strewed 
with flowers and odoriferous herbs. The host must be laid 
on a table very neatly covered, on which two candlesticks, 
with two lighted tapers in them, shall be set; also a drinking 
glass ; a vessel full of wine or water to purify or wash the 
fingers, and a white cloth to lay before the sick person. In 
case the viaticum be carried in public, as is the custom in Ro¬ 
man Catholic countries, the rector gives notice to his parish¬ 
ioners by ringing a bell, to prepare themselves to accompany 
the blessed sacrament with tapers and torches; to support the 
canopy, or give some other exterior marks of their devotion 
and respect. Being assembled, the priest washes his hands, 
as is usual in the celebration of the divine mysteries, and of 
such ceremonies as are performed by him in blessings, conse¬ 
crations, &c. He then puts on the surplice, the stole, the 
chasuble, and goes up to the altar, accompanied or followed 
by other priests or clerks. Here he falls upon his knees, re¬ 
peats a private prayer; and afterwards rising up, puts a white 
scarf about his neck, spreads the corporal on the altar, opens 
the tabernacle, kneels down a second time at taking out the 
ciborium or pix , which he lays upon the corporal ; kneels a 
third time when he has opened it; and after ha ving viewed 
the host, covers it with its little oval lid, and takes it in both 
his hands, which are folded in the ends of the scarf, that is 
about his neck. He then goes under the canopy, and a clerk, 
with a lighted lantern in his hand, walks foremost; and two 
other clerks, the one holding the holy water, the corporals, 
and the purificatories ; and the other the ritual and a little bell, 
march immediately after him. Next come those who carry 
the torches ; and lastly the priest walking under the canopy, 
and carrying the host raised as high as his breast. If the 
priest carry the viaticum to a considerable distance, the host 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 3(;7 

must, be put in a little silver box or pix, enclosed in a stuff 
purse, and hung- about his neck. 

The priest, on coming into the sick man’s apartment, bids 
peace to the house, and goes towards the table, on which he 
spreads the corporal, in order to set the pix, or ciborium, upon 
it. This being done, he, and every person present, worship 
the host; he then sprinkles the sick person, and also the room; 
during which anthems are sung and prayers are repeated 
suitable to the occasion. After this, he opens the ciborium, 
takes out a consecrated wafer with the thumb and fore-finder 
of his right-hand, observing to hold it a little aloft over the 
top of the ciborium, which he holds in his left hand, and turn¬ 
ing about; advances towards the sick man, in order to adminis¬ 
ter the sacrament to him. 

The communion being ended, the priest places the ciborium 
upon the table, observing to make a genuflexion at the same 
time; and afterwards rubs his finger and thumb, with which 
he took up the host, upon the brim of the ciborium, so that if 
any little piece of the wafer should happen to stick to it, he 
may shake it into it. He afterwards shuts the ciborium, and 
covers it with a little veil, kneeling at the same time; then he 
washes the finger and thumb, which touched the host, with 
wine and water, presented him by those of the house. 

This act of devotion concludes with prayers and exhorta¬ 
tions. If any consecrated wafers be left in the pix, or ciborium, 
the priest, after having blessed the sick person, returns to the 
church, attended by the same persons who accompanied him 
to the sick man’s house. Being come into the church, he pro¬ 
nounces the indulgences granted by the sovereign pontiffs 
and the bishop of the diocese, and gives them his blessing; 
but in case there are no more wafers in the pix, the priest re¬ 
turns without any formality, after having repeated the prayers 
used after the communion of the sick. If the sick person be just 
expiring, the priest omits all the prayers, &c. and in giving 
him the viaticum, repeats two or three words only. 

When the viaticum is given to a priest, he ought to have a 
surplice on, and over it a white stole, disposed crosswise over 
his breast. 

If a priest be obliged to carry the viaticum to any person in¬ 
fected with the plague, he must go within nine or ten paces of 
the house, taking care to stand in such a manner that the 
wind may be at his back. He now incloses the consecrated 
wafer between two common ones; and after having wrapped 
up the whole in a sheet of white paper, lays it on the ground 
at a reasonable distance from the place infected, and covers it 


368 * 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


with a stone, in order to secure it from the wind and rain. 
This being done, the priest draws back, and the sick person 
or his attendant, comes and takes up the wafers, being instruct¬ 
ed by the priest, which is the consecrated Host. The priest 
then says the prayers, and performs the ceremonies, which 
are usually repeated, both before and after the communion. 

The like precaution is observed in giving extreme unction 
to persons infected with the plague. They take a long wand 
or rod, at the end of which a piece of tow or cotton, dipped in 
the holy oil, is fixed, with which the sick person is anointed 
once, and with the usual words. After this, they run the end 
of the wand and the cotton into a fire purposely prepared in a 
chafing-dish. 

The bishops have power to absolve sinners, throughout the 
whole extent of their dioceses, and rectors in their parishes. 

Confession Other priests and monks must have an express 
and Penance, approbation from the bishop, before they are al¬ 
lowed to hear confession. However, there are 
certain cases reserved to the pope, the bishops, and their peni¬ 
tentiaries. 

Fasting, prayers, alms, abstinence from such pleasures and 
things as we chiefly delight in, are the general conditions of 
penance. There are others of a more particular kind; as, to 
repeat a certain number of Ave-Maria’s, Pater-Nosters, and 
Credos; to kneel, or salute the host a stated number of times; 
to give one’s-self a certain number of stripes; to wear a hair 
shirt, or a girdle made of horse-hair, &c. next to the skin. It 
would be endless, however, to enter into a farther detail of such 
particulars. Those who cannot hit upon austerities severe 
enough for their purpose, will meet with sufficient instructions 
in the Lives of the Saints, and the Golden Legend. 

The confessor must have a surplice over his cassock, with 
a purple stole, and square cap; he must hear confession in the 
church, and at that part of it which is the most distant from 
the high altar, i. e. at the bottom of the nave, being the most 
exposed to the view of the people, in the confessional, or con¬ 
fession-chair, which is the tribunal of penance. The confes¬ 
sional must be open before, and have one or two lattice-win¬ 
dows in it. Opposite to the penitent is placed an image of the 
crucifix, or some mystery of the passion. Confession must be 
made in the day-time, and, if possible, when there are people 
in the church. As soon as the penitent is come up to the con¬ 
fessional, he must make the sign of the cross, and ask the 
confessor’s blessing. 

The confessor must then be seated, his body upright, his 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


369 


cap on his head, his face covered, and his ear stooped towards 
the penitent. The penitent should be generally kneeling, and 
his or her hands clasped. Women and young maidens must 
not come to confession with their breasts bare^ or their arms 
uncovered. 

Confession being ended, the confessor uncovers himself, in 
order to absolve the penitent; and, accordingly, he recom¬ 
mends him to the divine mercy, stretches out his right hand 
towards him, begging Cod to remit his sins; after which he 
puts on his square cap, gives him the absolution in the name 
of Christ Jesus, and adds, holding his right hand always 
lifted up towards the penitent, that he absolves him, by Christ’s 
authority, in the name of the Father , c^c. He then takes off 
his cap a second time, and prays to God that “ Our Saviour’s 
passion, the merits of the Holy Virgin, and of all the saints, 
may conspire to remit the penitent’s sins.” 

When the penitent has completed the penance enjoined him, 
he returns to the bishop or his penitentiary, with p u bli c Ab 
a certificate signed by the rector, to prove that solution, 
he has fulfilled it; after which they proceed to 
his reconciliation with the Church. This reconciliation was 
formerly performed on holy Thursday. But whether it hap¬ 
pen on this or any other day of public worship, the penitent 
must come to the church-door, on the day appointed him for 
receiving absolution. The Roman pontifical enjoins, that he 
shall be there upon his knees, with an unlighted taper in his 
hand. He must likewise be in a plain and ordinary dress, 
without his weapons, if he be a soldier, and bare-headed; in 
an humble and contrite manner, and with a dejected countenance: 
women must be veiled. Immediately before the parochial 
mass, the priest, clothed in his albe, or surplice, and the pur¬ 
ple stole, shall give the people notice that the penitent or peni¬ 
tents, are going to be reconciled to the Church. He then shall 
exhort the congregation to pray for them; shall fall prostrate 
before the altar, and pronounce some prayers, which are an¬ 
swered by the congregation. These prayers are composed of 
passages from the scriptures, and selected by the church. The 
prayers being ended, the priest goes to the church-door, and 
makes a pretty long exhortation to the penitents; which being 
done, he takes them by the hand and leads them into the church. 
But in case they have been excommunicated, he then, before 
he re-unites them to the body of the faithful, sits down, puts 
on his cap, and repeats the Miserere; the penitent being at 
his feet, the congregation upon their knees, and the clergy 
standing. At every verse of the Miserere , the priest strikes 


370 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


the excommunicated penitent on the shoulder, with a little 
stick, or whip made of chords. The Roman ritual and the 
pontifical ordain, that the penitent who is absolved in this man¬ 
ner shall be stripped to his shirt, as low as his shoulders. The 
priest then asks the penitent the occasion of his coming hither, 
and after that says to him, Receive the sign of the cross of 
Christ and Christianity , ivhich thou hadst borne before , but 
renounced by the error into which thou didst uyihappily fall. 
This ceremony, as all the preceding, must be followed by some 
prayers; and afterwards the litanies are to be sung, the people 
being upon their knees. 

The rituals define extreme unction to be a sacrament that 
gives all such Christians as are afflicted with any dangerous fit 
of sickness, a final remission of their remaining 

Unction 61116 S ^ S ’ i ns P^ res them with grace to suffer with pa¬ 
tience the pains and troubles of their infirmity, 
endues them with strength sufficient to die the death of the 
righteous, and restores them to health, provided it be for the 
good of their souls. Thus the Catholic Church makes ex¬ 
treme unction a sacrament, the indispensable necessity of which 
is apparent in the above definition. 

The form of the sacrament of extreme unction consists in 
these words; “ May God by his holy anointing, and his most 
pious mercy, grant you the pardon of all the sins you may have 
committed.” The priest pronounces this form of words while 
he is anointing those parts of the body which are proper for 
it, because they have been the occasion, or served as so many 
instruments for sin, whereof to use the words of Alet’s Ritual, 
this sacrament purges the dregs , i. e. those sins which we have 
not been careful enough to repent of This sacrament therefore, 
compensates for the defects of past repentance. 

The priest is the only minister of this sacrament, which is 
administered to none but those who are afflicted with some 
mortal disease, or those who have arrived at a very advanced 
age, and are likewise extremely infirm. But extreme unction 
is not administered to criminals condemned to die; and the 
reason given for this is, that the criminal is not in a state of 
death, either by disease or any other infirmity. Extreme 
unction is likewise refused to those who are impenitent, and 
in case a sick person dies while he is anointing, the cere¬ 
mony must immediately be discontinued. 

As the dissolution of the sick person approaches, the priest 
must get ready seven balls of cotton, to wipe those parts which 
are to be anointed with the holy oil, some crumbs of bread to 
rub his fingers with, water to wash them, a napkin to wipe 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


371 


them, and a taper to light him during the ceremony. Before 
he goes to the sick person, he must sanctify himself by prayer: 
after which he must wash his hands, put on a surplice, and 
the purple stole; he must take the vessel in which the holy 
oils are contained, covered with a purple veil, or shut up in a 
bag of the same colour, and carry it in such a manner as not 
to let the oil run out. If he go a great distance off he need 
not put on his surplice and his stole till he come to the door of 
the sick person, and in that case, he must carry the vessel of 
oils in a purse, and hang it about his neck, in the same man¬ 
ner as the viaticum is sometimes carried to the sick. The priest 
must be attended by the clerk, who must carry the cross without 
a staff, the vessel of holy water, the sprinkler, and the ritual. 
They must not ring the little bell by the way, but the priest 
must offer up some prayers, with a low voice, in favour of the sick. 

On entering into the sick person’s apartment, he repeats the 
ordinary form of words, Pax huic domui, et omnibus habitants- 
bus in ea, —i. e. Peace be to this house , cfyc. After having ta¬ 
ken off his cap, and set the vessels of the holy oils upon the 
table, he gives the sick person, the cross to kiss; afterwards 
takes the sprinkler, sprinkles the sick person, the apartment, 
and the assistants, with holy water in form of a cross, at the same 
time repeating the anthem, Asperges me, Spc. He tells the sick 
person, by way of exhortation, that he would commit the utmost 
sacrilege, in case he presumed to receive extreme unction with¬ 
out having first settled his conscience; but in case he is speech¬ 
less, and is not sensible, the priest exhorts him to the best of 
his power: which exhortation must certainly have a wonder¬ 
ful efficacy after the sick person has lost his senses. If the 
sick person discovers any tokens of contrition, the priest shall 
pronounce absolution, which must be followed by an exhort¬ 
ation, and that, by a prayer. But before absolution, the sick 
person must either repeat the Confiteor himself, or, in case 
he be not able to do it, the clerk must pronounce it for him. 
The priest must then add for the sick person the Misereatur 
tui, i. e. May the Lord have pity on thee, Spc. Before he be¬ 
gins to perform the ceremony of extreme unction, all the per¬ 
sons present must fall down upon their knees, and whilst the 
anointing is performed, they must repeat the penitential psalms 
and litanies for the sake of his soul. 

The anointing is performed in this manner: the priest dips 
the thumb of his right hand into the oils of the infirm; he 
anoints in the form of a cross, and pronounces some words 
suitable to the anointing of each part; whilst the clerk lights 
him with a consecrated taper, and holds a basin in a dish, in 


372 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


which the pieces of cotton are laid. The priest begins by 
anointing the right eye, observing that the eye-lid is shut; he 
next anoints the left-eye, and in the mean while repeats these 
words : May God by this holy anointing , and by his most pi¬ 
ous mercy , pardon you the sins you have committed by the eyes. 
If the priest be accompanied by a clergyman who is in holy 
orders, he must wipe the part which has been anointed, other¬ 
wise the priest must wipe it himself. The eyes being anoint¬ 
ed he proceeds to the ears, observing to repeat the proper form 
of words. After the ears, he anoints the nostrils, but not the 
tip of the nose. He afterwards proceeds to the mouth and 
anoints the lips, the mouth being shut. He anoints the hands 
in the manner above-mentioned; then he proceeds to the soles 
of the feet, and afterwards advances upwards to the reins, but 
this for men only; nor are they anointed in this part, but when 
they can be easily turned in their beds, or be laid down in them 
without danger. The anointing being ended, the priest rubs 
those fingers which have touched the oil, and afterwards wash¬ 
es his hands. The crumbs of bread with which he rubbed his 
lingers, and the water with which he washed them, must be 
thrown into the fire. The pieces of cotton that have been em¬ 
ployed in anointing, are carried into the church, where they 
are burnt, and the ashes are thrown into the sacrarium. 

The anointing being ended, the priest repeats some prayers, 
which are followed by an exhortation to the sick ; after which 
the priest goes away, leaving a crucifix with the sick person, 
in order that the representation of his dying Saviour may ad¬ 
minister some consolation to him. 

When the sick person has expired, the priest, standing un¬ 
covered, says a response, in which the saints and angels are 
invoked to assist the soul of the deceased: he 

obErved°at ieS a ^ terwar ^ s re P eats a prayer. At the same time 
Funerals. orders are sent to toll the bell, to give notice of 
the sick person’s death, by which every one is 
reminded to pray for his soul. 

Then the priest withdraws; and the corpse is thus put in 
order. They wash some parts of it, close its eyes and mouth, 
according to the ancient practice; and, wrapping it in a 
shroud, or leaving it with the clothes on, as in Italy, they lay 
it in a decent place, observing to put a little crucifix in its 
hands, which must lie upon its breast: sometimes the hands are 
laid cross-wise. A vessel full of holy water, and a sprinkler, 
must be placed at its feet, in order that those, who come to pay 
him their last respects, may sprinkle both themselves and the 
corpse with holy water. In the meantime some clergyman 





Reconciliation of a heretic, p. 3C9. 



Excommunication with unlighted tapers, p. 363. 


V 




























































































































































































































































ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


373 


must stay by the corpse, and pray for the deceased, till such 
time as he is laid in the earth. If the deceased was a priest, 
or of any other order in the Church, he must have the tonsure 
according to his order, and his square cap with a little cross 
on his breast. 

It was anciently the custom, as soon as any person died, to 
send for some, clergyman, who always spent the night with 
the relations of the deceased, and discoursed with them about 
the word of God, for their instruction. They used to sing 
psalms by anthems or verses, the one answering the other. 
They also recommended the soul of the deceased to God, and 
besought him to preserve it from hell, &c. 

Priests and ecclesiastics, after their decease, are all clothed 
in habits suitable to their respective ranks; and the corpse of 
a clergyman is carried to the grave by the clergy only, in the 
same manner as that of a layman is carried by the laity. Ec¬ 
clesiastics do not put on mourning for their relations, nor ac¬ 
company them to the grave in the same order with lay-rela¬ 
tions, but walk with the rest of the clergy in their sacerdotal 
vestments. 

Church-yards being the places generally used for the in¬ 
terment of the dead, the bishop blesses them solemnly in the 
manner following. The eve before the day on 
which the blessing is to be performed, a wooden ^BtessTna-^ 
cross, of the height of a man, must be set up in Church yards, 
the middle of the church-yard, and four smaller 
ones are to be set up at the corners. Before the cross a piece 
of wood must be placed, about sixteen inches high, on which 
wood three tapers are placed, when the blessing is performed. 
The next morning, before the ceremony begins, a carpet must 
be spread in the church-yard near the cross; and the several 
things necessary for the blessing of the place must be got ready; 
viz. holy water, the thuribles, tapers, &c. Then, the priest 
being clothed in his sacerdotal vestments, comes out of the sa¬ 
cristy in procession, attended by an exorcist, or acolyte, carry¬ 
ing the holy water ; another with the thurible ; two clerks, 
carrying the ritual, and three tapers, made of white wax ; and 
the whole choir, walking two and two, with the officiating 
priest in the rear. 

Having arrived at the church-yard, they range themselves 
round the cross, or crosses, and the officiating priest makes a 
short discourse to the assistants, on the holiness, the privileges, 
and immunities of church-yards. After this, three tapers are 
lighted up before the cross which stands in the middle; and 
if there be one at each angle of the church-yard, three are 
33 


374 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


lighted up before these also. The officiating priest now rises, 
repeats a prayer, which is followed by the chanting of the 
litanies; and at the repeating of these words, We beseech thee 
to purify and bless this church-yard , he makes the sign of 
the cross. He does the same a second time, when he repeats 
them for the sanctification of the church-yard ; and a third, in 
repeating them for the consecration. The litanies being end¬ 
ed, the officiating priest sprinkles the middle cross with holy 
water ; and whilst an anthem and the Miserere are sung, he 
goes round the church-yard, and sprinkles it with holy water. 
He afterwards takes one of the lighted tapers, which stood at 
the foot of the cross, and sets it on the top of it, and then takes 
the other two, and sets them on the two arms of the cross. At 
last, the whole ceremony ends with incensing and sprinkling 
the crosses thrice with holy water. 

The common custom among Roman Catholics, is to keep 
a corpse four and twenty hours above ground; but in some 
countries, it is kept five or six days, particularly 
Funeral Cer- ’ n Holland, where it is often kept seven. The 
ceremonies ordained by the rituals to those who 
are allowed Christian burial, vary in certain circumstances; 
but in general, when the time is come for the corpse to be 
carried to church, notice thereof must be given by the tolling 
of a bell to the priests, and other clergymen, whose province 
it is to assist at the funeral, to assemble in proper order, 
clothed in their sacerdotal vestments, in the church where 
they are to pray. After this, the rector puts his black stole 
and chasuble over his surplice, and they all set out to the 
house where the corpse lies; the exorcist carrying the holy 
water, walks first; next the cross-bearer ; afterwards the rest 
of the clergy; and last of all the officiating priest. The 
corpse of the deceased must be either laid out at the street- 
door, or in some apartment near it, with his feet turned 
towards the street ; the coffin being surrounded with four or 
six lighted tapers of yellow wax, in as many large candlesticks. 

When the clergy are come to the house where the corpse 
lies, the cross-bearer plants himself, if possible, at the head of 
it; the officiating priest over-against him, at the feet; the 
person who carries the holy water, a little behind the offici¬ 
ating priest, at his right hand, and the other persons of the 
choir range themselves on each side, observing to stand nearer 
or farther off from the officiating priest, in proportion to their 
rank or superiority in the Church. Every thing must be 
ordered in this manner, provided there be room for it; for it 
often happens, that the cross stands at the door, on that side 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


375 


where the funeral is to go, and that the choir are obliged to 
range themselves on each side, in order to leave room for the 
officiating priest in the middle. During this interval, the 
tapers and torches of yellow wax are lighted, and given to 
those who are appointed to carry them. 

The officiating priest, now standing before the cross, with 
his face turned towards the body, the assistant who carries 
the holy water, presents him with the sprinkler, with which 
the priest sprinkles the corpse thrice, without saying a word. 

Then follow certain other ceremonies, after which the corpse 
is carried to the church where the service for the dead is read, 
and also mass, if the time will permit. 

Prayers now follow, the corpse is again sprinkled, after 
which it is carried to the grave in the same manner in which 
it was carried to the church. 

Being come to the grave, the whole company pull off their 
hats, and draw up in much the same order as at church. 
The bearers lay the corpse near the grave, with its feet turned 
towards the east, it being affirmed that Jesus Christ was 
buried in that manner. If the corpse be buried in the church, 
its feet must be turned towards the altar; but those of priests 
must have their heads turned in a contrary direction. 

After the body has been laid on the brink of the grave, the 
officiating priest blesses it by a prayer, in which he makes the 
general commemoration of the dead who have been interred 
therein. The prayer being ended, he again sprinkles and 
incenses the body, and also the grave thrice. He afterwards 
begins this anthem, Ego sum Resurrectio, &c. I am the resur¬ 
rection and the life , &c., and concludes with the Requiem. 
Then the officiating priest performs a third time the triple 
sprinkling of the corpse with holy water, but does not incense 
it; which is followed by another prayer, with the anthem, Si 
iniquitates , and the De profundis. The body being laid in 
the grave, the relations and friends of the deceased come, be¬ 
fore the earth is thrown into it, and sprinkle it with holy 
water, in their turns. When the grave has been filled up, the 
company condole with the relations of the deceased, and they 
all return to the church, where, after the mass for the deceased 
is ended, the funeral-sermon is preached. 

Sometimes the funeral happens in a season when mass can¬ 
not be said ; in which case, the ceremony is performed with 
much greater simplicity ; for then the corpse is only sprinkled 
and incensed bv a priest clothed in his black chasuble, and 
accompanied with two clerks, the one carrying the cross, and 
the other the sprinkler and the thurible. 


376 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


• Independently of the age requisite for marriage, the liberty 
of contracting so solemn an engagement, and the publication 
of the bans, the rituals require further, " That 
^A* remonieS the persons to be joined together in matrimony, 
shall be sufficiently instructed m the Christian 
doctrine ; that they should know the nature of the sacrament 
of marriage, its ends, and obligations ; and that they should 
first confess themselves, and receive the sacrament, before they 
join themselves together for ever.” 

When the priest in his proper vestments goes to the altar, 
he is preceded by one or two clerks in their surplices, carry¬ 
ing the holy water-pot, the sprinkler, the ritual, and a little 
basin, in which to put the ring when it is to be blessed. After 
he has said the usual prayer for the couple, he advances to¬ 
wards them on the last step of the altar; the man standing on 
the epistle and the woman on the gospel side, so that the man 
stands at the woman’s right hand. The relations and wit¬ 
nesses stand behind them. Then the priest asks the couple 
their names and surnames; which is only a formality, their 
names being already known to him, by the publication of the 
bans, and by a certificate confirming the same, which the 
couple are obliged to produce at the time. He afterwards 
addresses himself to the man and woman separately, in their 
mother tongue, calling them both by their proper names, and 
asks the man whether he will have such a one for his wife ? 
and the woman whether she will have such a one for her 
husband? Reciprocal consent is absolutely requisite in this 
case, and without it the marriage would be null. After mu¬ 
tual consent has been given, by expressly answering “ Yes,” 
the priest, who before was covered, uncovers himself, takes the 
couple by the hand, and making them join hands, says, Ego 
jungo vos in matrimonium , fyc. that is, I join you together in 
marriage , in the name of the Father , fyc. At the same time 
he makes the sign of the cross upon them, and then sprinkles 
them with holy water. This being done, he blesses the wed¬ 
ding-ring, and sprinkles it also with holy water, in the form 
of a cross; after which he gives it to the man, who puts it on 
the wedding-finger of the woman’s left hand. This ring is 
the pledge of the conjugal chastity and fidelity which the wife 
owes the husband. To all this the priest adds some prayers* 
after which follows an exhortation to the married couple ana 
to the assembly, and afterwards mass. 

The married couple are blessed in the following manner, 
when the woman is a virgin, and has always had the reputa¬ 
tion of chastity. The priest, after the offertory, goes to the 









- ... . 






.* v 















* 










* 









































9 



Marriage in the Roman Catholic Church, p. 376. 



Blessing of the Nuptial Bed. p.377. 


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ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


377 


foot of the altar, and the married couple make what oblation 
they think proper; the husband first, and the wife afterwards. 
The priest likewise repeats some prayers, and the ceremony 
?nds with an exhortation to the married couple. The subject 
t>f this exhortation is on the duties of the conjugal life, the 
end and design of marriage, reciprocal love, &c.; after which 
he sprinkles them with holy water. Young people are not 
to inhabit under the same roof, or be in company together, ex¬ 
cept in the presence of their parents, or relations, till such 
time as they have received the blessing of the church; but 
when this is over, they are at liberty to consummate the mar¬ 
riage, which would be criminal, if done without the formalities 
established by the church. 

The married couple must now desire the priest to bless the 
marriage-bed; and among the other blessings, which are 
asked by the mediation of the priest when he blesses the mar¬ 
riage-bed, one is, that those who are to lie in it, may increase 
and multiply. The holy water completes the sanctification of 
the nuptial-bed. 

SEC. III.-HOLY ORDERS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

There are seven orders in the Catholic TheSevenor- 
Church, viz. the sacristan or door-keeper, the ders in the Ca- 
reader, the exorcist, the acolyte , the sub-deacon , tholic Church, 
the deacon, and the priest. 

The employment of the door-keeper, called sacristan, is to 
open and shut the church-doors, and also to take care that the ' 
bells be rung in due time ; that of the reader , to read aloud the 
lessons and prophecies which are sung at matins and mass; that 
of the exorcist, to cast out devils from the bodies of persons pos¬ 
sessed ; that of the acolyte , to bring in the tapers to light them, 
to take care to put fire into the thurible, and frankincense into 
the navicula, to prepare the wine and water, for the sacrifice, 
and to attend upon the sub-deacon, the deacon, and the priest. 

The duty of the priest is to offer up the sacrifice of the mass, 
to administer the sacraments, (those of confirmation and orders 
excepted,) to preach the word of God, to bless the people, and 
to watch over the souls committed to his charge. 

Church-benefices or livings, being the appurtenances of holy 
orders and the ecclesiastical state, can belong to those only 
who have been ordained, or who have received Benefices and 
the tonsure. Ecclesiastical dignities are of much Dignities of 
more ancient date than benefices, the latter taking the Church, 
their rise from the latter ages of the Church. 

32 * 


378 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


A person must be full fourteen years of age before he can 
be entitled to possess a benefice, and must have received the 
tonsure beforehand. All incumbents, especially those who 
have a cure of souls, are obliged to residence; but they fre¬ 
quently leave that duty to their curates. However, by the 
laws of the Church they are forbidden to receive any of the 
fruits of their benefices, during the time they may have been 
absent from them. 

Bishops are considered as the fathers and pastors of the 
faithful, and the successors of the Apostles ; by virtue of which 
superiority they are allowed the chief places in 

a ncf el ectiorfo f c ^°i r > chapters, and processions. As suc- 

Bishops. cessors to the Apostles, they claim respect and 
homage from the laity; and as fathers and pas¬ 
tors, they are obliged to preach God’s holy word to the faith¬ 
ful. This was the custom in the primitive Church; and there 
can be no prescription on this head, since, in the consecration 
of bishops, they are commanded to preach the Gospel to those 
over whom they are appointed pastors. 

The ceremonial enjoins -that bishops shall be clothed in 
purple, though the regular bishops may continue to wear the 
habit of their order. During Lent and Advent they must be 
in black, and always clothed in their sutane; but they are al¬ 
lowed to wear short clothes when on a journey. 

The pope only has the right of electing bishops. This is 
a prerogative, which the partisans of the Court of Rome carry 
to a very great height, and to the prejudice of kings and other 
sovereign princes. Nevertheless, some of these have reserved 
to themselves the right of nominating to bishoprics; after 
which, the pope sends his approbation and the bulls to the new 
bishop. x 

When a person hears that the pope has raised him to the 
episcopal dignity, he must enlarge his shaven crown, and dress 
himself in purple. If he be in Rome, he must go and salute 
his holiness, and receive the rochet from him. Three months 
after being confirmed in his election, he is consecrated in a 
solemn manner. 

The archbishops are superior to bishops, and are distin¬ 
guished by the pallium or pall, which the pope sends them. 

. Anciently some bishops were honoured with the 

rC lsl0ps ' pallium, probably because of their high quality. 
The bishop of Bamberg in Germany, and those of Lucca and 
Pavia in Italy, enjoy the same privilege at this time. 

If the person nominated to an archbishop’s see be at Rome, 
the chief cardinal-deacon performs the ceremony of putting 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CIIURCII. 


379 


the pall on his shoulders, although it was formerly done by 
the pope. After mass, the officiating prelate, clothed in his 
pontifical vestments, receives the oath of the archbishop elect; 
who is clothed in similar pomp, the gloves and mitre except¬ 
ed. The officiating prelate then rises up, and putting the pall 
upon the shoulders of the archbishop elect, says these words 
to him: “ To the glory of God, of the Blessed Virgin, of the 
Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, of our Lord the Pope, and of 
the holy Church of Rome, &c. receive this pall, which is ta¬ 
ken from the body of St. Peter, and in which the plenitude or 
perfection of the function of pontiff or patriarch, or archbishop, 
is found ; make use of it on certain days, noted in the privi¬ 
leges which are granted to you by the holy Apostolic See, in 
the-name of the Father,” &c. The archbishop is to wear the 
pall in the solemnities of the mass, and on high festivals, at 
the consecration of a church, at ordinations, at the consecra¬ 
tion of a bishop, and at giving the veil to nuns. The pope 
alone has the privilege of always wearing the pall. 

After the archbishop has received the pall, he goes up to 
the altar, and blesses the people. The pall consists of certain 
pieces of white woollen stuff three fingers in breadth, and is 
embroidered with red crosses. Before it be given to the arch¬ 
bishop, either at Rome or elsewhere, by proxy, it must be left 
for one whole night on the altar of St. Peter and St. Paul. 
The use of the pall is rather ancient in the church, and some 
footsteps of that ornament are to be found among the Romans. 
The officers, who served at feasts and sacrifices, used to wear 
on the left-shoulder a pretty broad piece of woollen-stuff, with 
plaits or folds hanging down from it. This was the badge of 
their ministerial function ; and after it had been consecrated 
to the use of the Christian Church, it received an additional 
sacred character by being anointed. The pall being made of 
wool, and worn on the bishop’s shoulders, is said to be the 
emblem of the lost sheep , which the shepherd lays on his 
shoulders, and brings back into the sheepfold. 

Every particular pall serves for the use of that archbishop 
only, to whom it was first given; neither can he make any 
use of it, in case he be translated from one archbishopric to 
another, nor leave it to his successors. When an archbishop 
dies, his pall is buried with him, and if he be buried in his 
own diocese, it is laid upon his shoulders; but if out of it, un¬ 
der his head. An archbishop, who has been translated to 
several sees, has all his palls buried with him ; that of his last 
archiepiscopal see being laid upon his shoulders, and the rest 
under his head. 



380 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CIIURCII. 


The principal functions of the master of the ceremonies 
are to take care that all those who have lately taken orders, 
observe the ceremonies and practices of the 
M as tei' s of the an j that every thing be done in the 

choir conformably to discipline. He must like¬ 
wise regulate the order and march in all professions, assist at 
all pontifical ceremonies, such as solemn masses, the entry and 
consecration of bishops, synods, the visitation of a diocese, &c. 

The master of the ceremonies must be in holy orders, and 
his vestments are of a purple colour; but he must be clothed 
in a surplice when in the choir, and at the divine offices of 
the church. On high festivals, he carries a wand, which is 
generally of a purple colour. 

The prebends, or canons, are considered the senators of the 
Church. When a person is promoted to a prebend, he must 
be presented in a very ceremonious manner 

Canons'^^ c ^ a P ter > w ^° assemble in the cathedral 

to receive him. He is presented by a deputy 
of the chapter, accompanied by the bishop’s notary and 
some witnesses. This deputy conducts the person elected 
to the altar, which the latter kisses thrice; after which, he 
goes and takes his seat in the choir, and stays there some 
time, during which the deputy gives the chapter an account of 
his promotion; and afterwards he goes and takes him into the 
choir, and presenting him to the chapter, desires them to re¬ 
ceive him as one of their brethren. The prebend elect then 
makes his confession of faith aloud, and swears to observe 
the ordinances of the Church, and of our Holy Father the 
Pope. Being thus solemnly installed, he is empowered to 
assist at the chapter, and to chant the office in the choir, &c. 

The arch-deacon is superior to deacons and sub-deacons; 
his office is to examine the candidates for holy orders, and to 

Arch deacon P resent them to the bishop; and by virtue of this 
office, the arch-deacon is superior to a priest, 
notwithstanding that the order itself is inferior to that of the 
priesthood. 

The arch-priest is superior to other priests. In the absence 
of his bishop, he celebrates the solemn masses. It is he who, 
on Ash-Wednesday, leads the penitents out of 

rci nest. t } le c ] lurc } l5 p Uts as h e s on their heads, and pre¬ 
septs them to the bishop on Holy Thursday. 

Pescara assures us, that the office of Prothonotary was 
instituted by Saint Clement, and that at that time, 
ro ono a an( j un( j er the Popes, St. Antherus and St. Ju¬ 
lius I. their office was to write the acts of the 


ries 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


38 i 


martyrs, and to look after the church-registers, &c. This office 
being of so great antiquity, greatly heightens the prerogatives 
of the pope. Prothonotaries are dignified with the title of 
prelates at Rome, and are empowered to create doctors, and to 
make bastards legitimate. 

The word Abbot , which is originally Hebrew, or Syriac, 
signifies father. An abbot is a prelate inferior to a bishop: 
he is the Lord’s vicar over his monks, their fa¬ 
ther, and the mystical spouse of his convent; Abbots, 
which is said to be an epitome of the church of God. But it 
must be observed, that we are here speaking of regular abbots. 

When an abbess elect is to be blessed, she first takes the 
oath of fidelity to her ordinary, and to the church over which 
she presides; then the prelate who receives her, ^ 
gives her his blessing. After having laid both 
his hands on her head, he gives her the rule; and if she be 
not already a nun, blesses the white veil, and puts it on her 
head, in such a manner as to let it hang down over her breast 
and shoulders. The rest of the ceremony has nothing parti¬ 
cular in it; it consists only of kissing the pix, and introdu¬ 
cing the newly elected abbess among the nuns. 

Nuns or abbesses never receive the veil but on solemn 
days, such as Sundays or high festivals. In general, young 
women ought not to be allowed to take the veil till five-and- 
twenty, nor till after they have passed the strictest examina¬ 
tion, and particularly till it has been strongly inculcated to 
them, that they must live in a state of virginity , during the re¬ 
mainder of their days ; a vow that may indeed be sincere in 
the warmth of devotion, or from the effect of pique; but the 
execution thereof depending upon innumerable circumstances, 
it is exposed to many dreadful temptations, even in the most 
strict retirement. 

At the profession of a nun, the habit, the veil, and the ring 
of the candidate, are all carrie’d to the altar, and she herself, 
dressed in magnificent apparel, and accompanied by her near¬ 
est relations, is conducted to the bishop. Two venerable ma¬ 
trons are her bride-women, when the bishop says mass. After 
the gradual is over, the candidate or candidates for the veil, 
attended by the same persons as before, and with their faces 
covered, enter the church, and present themselves before the 
bishop ; but before this be done, the arch-priest chants an an¬ 
them, the subject of which is, Thai they ought to have their 
lamps lighted , because the bridegroom is coming to meet them ; 
and while he is singing, they light their lamps. The arch¬ 
priest now presents them to the bishop, who calls them thrice 


382 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


in a kind of chanting tone ; and they answer him in the same 
manner. The first time they advance to the entrance of the 
choir, the second to the middle, and the third to the chancel of 
the altar; they kneel down before the bishop, with their faces 
to the ground, and afterwards rise up, singing this verse, Re¬ 
ceive me, O Lord ! according to thy holy ivord. Being come 
before the prelate, and on their knees, they attend to the ex¬ 
hortation he makes them concerning the duties of a religious 
life. After this, they kiss his hand, and then lie prostrate be¬ 
fore him while the choir chants the litanies. Then the bishop, 
having the crosier in his left hand, completes the benediction. 
After they have risen, he blesses the new habits, which denote 
the contempt of the world , and the humility of their hearts. 
A sprinkle of holy water concludes the consecration, and then 
the candidates go and put on their religious habits. 

The veil, the ring, and the crowns, are blessed after the 
same manner. All these benedictions being ended, they pre¬ 
sent themselves in the habit of nuns before the bishop, and sing 
the following words on their knees, Ancilla Christi sum, &c. 
i. e. I am the handmaid or servant of Christ, &c. “ In this 

posture they receive the veil, and afterwards the ring; on de¬ 
livering which the bishop declares he marries them to Jesus 
Christ. And lastly, the crown of virginity is given, to which 
they are called by the chanting of the anthem, Veni sponsa 
Christi, &c. “Come, O spouse of Christ, and receive the 
crown.” In the first ages of the Church, it was usual to set 
a crown on the heads of those who died virgins, which custom 
is still observed in several parts of Christendom. Being thus 
crowned, an anathema is denounced against all who shall at¬ 
tempt to turn them from God, by endeavouring to make them 
break their vow in what manner soever, or on those who shall 
seize upon any part of their wealth. After the offertory, they 
present lighted tapers to the bishop, who afterwards gives them 
the communion; and as it is the custom in several convents 
for the nuns to read the office and canonical hours, the bishop 
gives the breviary to those who are taken into such convents. 
These ceremonies being ended, the prelate gives them up to 
the conduct of the abbess, saying to her, Take care to preserve, 
pure and spotless, these young women, whom God has conse¬ 
crated to himself, &e. 

The custom of giving the veil to nuns is of great antiquity, 
and was practised before the age of St. Ambrose and Pope 
Liberius, as is manifest from the writers of the second and 
third century. 

The cardinals are senators of the Church, and counsellors 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


383 


of the successors of St. Peter. There are now three orders of 
cardinals, viz. bishops, priests, and deacons: six 
of these are bishops, fifty are priests, and four- Cardinals, 
teen deacons. Sixtus V. fixed the number of cardinals to 
seventy, in order to imitate the ancient Sanhedrim of the 
Jews, which was composed of seventy elders, and it is this as¬ 
sembly which is now called the Sacred College. 

When his holiness makes a promotion of cardinals, he gives 
them the title of priest, or deacon, as he thinks proper, they 
afterwards arrive at episcopacy by right of superiority, or by 
assuming the title of those who die ; and because all cardinals 
are. equal by their dignity, they take place according to the 
date of their promotion, and the quality of their title. 

As cardinals, with regard to spirituals, govern the Church 
of Rome in all parts of the Christian world, subjects of the dif¬ 
ferent nations of it are allowed to aspire to this dignity, ac¬ 
cording to the decisions of the Council of Trent. For this 
reason the popes often create those persons cardinals, who are 
nominated by crowned heads; who, it is presumed, propose 
the most eminent among their subjects for that purpose. For¬ 
merly the pope, in promoting cardinals, used to advise with 
the ancient ones; but now he creates them without consulting 
any person. 

Those cardinals who are in greatest credit with the reign¬ 
ing pope, have certain kingdoms, states, republics, and reli¬ 
gious orders, under their protection. They have „ 

o 'A j r rprn 1 1 

the privilege of conferring the four orders called 0 f Cardinals, 
minor, viz. that of door-keeper , reader , exorcist , 
and acolyte , on their domestics, and on other persons. They 
are exempt from the reversion of their church-lands and 
effects to the Apostolical Chamber, as is customary in Italy, 
and may bequeath ecclesiastical wealth in the same man¬ 
ner as patrimonial. They have likewise some other very 
considerable privileges ; such as a power of resigning their 
pensions, by particular grants from popes; to be exempt 
from the examination of bishops, when they are put into 
Sees; to be believed in a court of justice upon their bare 
words, without being obliged to take an oath; and their 
single testimony is equal to that of two witnesses. They are 
considered as citizens of whatever city the pope resides in, 
and do not pay any taxes. They grant a hundred days in¬ 
dulgence to whomsoever they please, and acknowledge no 
one but the pope for their judge or superior, particularly in 
criminal matters; for as to civil causes, they are always heard 
before the auditors of the Apostolic Chamber. 


384 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


They have several other prerogatives: such as that of wear¬ 
ing purple habits, a mantle royal with a train six ells long, a 
red hat, and an episcopal mitre, though they be no more than 
priests, deacons, or clerks. Cardinals wore only the common 
vestment of priests, which was like a monastic habit, till the 
time of Innocent IV. The red hat was given them in 1243, 
in the Council of Lyons. Innocent IV. was desirous of gain¬ 
ing their friendship by this honourable badge, and to win them 
over to his interest, on account of the difference he had with 
the Emperor. Under Boniface IX. they were clothed in 
scarlet, and even in purple, and their robes were the same then 
as at present. According to other writers, they were not 
clothed in scarlet till the pontificate of Paul II. Others pre¬ 
tend that their robes were of that colour as early as Innocent 

III. and others again, that they wore the purple under Stephen 

IV. Paul II. distinguished them by the embroidered silk 
mitre, and the red cope and cap, red housings for their mules, 
and gilt stirrups. Gregory XIV. granted the red cap to the 
regulars, but ordered that their vestments should be of the 
colour of their order, and that they should have no rochet, nor 
wear a cloth cassoc. Urban VIII. in order to add fresh splen¬ 
dour to the cardinalate, ordered that the title of Eminence 
should be given to them. 

When a cardinal goes to Rome to receive his hat from the 


observed at the 
creation of 
Cardinal. 


a 


pope, a variety of ceremonies are performed, which our limits 
will not allow us to notice. 

When the pope, by special favour, is pleased to send the 
hat to an absent cardinal, the following ceremonies are ob- 

Ceremonies served:—In the first place it is to be observed, 
that whenever any person out of Italy is created 
cardinal, he is not permitted to put on the scarlet 
vestments until his holiness has sent him his hat: 
but he is nevertheless allowed to assume the title of cardinal. 
The hat is carried by an honorary chamberlain, together with 
a brief directed to the nuncio, or to the sovereign, or bishop, 
of the place where the cardinal elect resides. As soon as the 
latter hears of the approach of the chamberlain who brings 
the hat, he sends his household to meet him, with as many of 
his friends as he can collect together for that purpose, to do 
him the greater honour; and they all make their entry to¬ 
gether in cavalcade, if allowed by the custom of the place. 
In this procession, the pope’s chamberlain holds the red hat 
aloft on the mace, in order that it may be seen by all the 
spectators. 

The pope’s envoy, and the prelate who is to perform the 




Crowning the Nuns. p. 382. 



Anathema ngainst false Nuns. p. 382, 































































































































































































































































































































































































ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


385 


ceremony, afterwards meet on a Sunday, or on some high festi¬ 
val, at the newly-elected cardinal’s house, with their domestics, 
and as many friends as they can collect, and go in cavalcade 
to the principal church of the place in the following order. 

The march is opened by drums and trumpets; then come 
the livery servants. The soldiers upon guard, in case there 
be any, or the inhabitants of the town under arms, march be¬ 
fore the gentlemen, and afterwards the pope’s chamberlain 
appears in a purple habit, holding the red hat aloft, and unco¬ 
vered. Immediately after follows the newly-elected cardinal, 
with his cope on, his capuche on his head, and over all a black 
hat. On the right hand the prelate marches who is to perform 
the ceremony, and on his left some other person of quality; 
such as the king, prince, or chief nobleman of the place ; and 
behind him the coaches of the cardinal, and of all such persons 
as are proud of doing him honour, with a great train. When 
this ceremony is performed in any place where a king or 
prince resides, their guards always attend on the newly-elected 
cardinal. 

When the cavalcade is come to the church, mass is sung" in 
it, and it is usual for the king or prince of the place, and like¬ 
wise the chief lords and ladies of the court, to be present 
at it. Mass being ended, the prelate who is to perform the 
ceremony puts on his cope and mitre; then, being seated on a 
sort of throne, which stands on the steps of the altar, with 
his back turned to it, the person who brought the hat lays it 
on the altar, and presents the pope’s brief to the prelate, who 
gives it to his secretary, and the latter reads it with an audible 
voice, so as to be heard by the whole congregation. Imme¬ 
diately after, the prelate makes an oration in praise of the 
newly-elected cardinal, and at the conclusion declares, that he 
is ready to deliver the hat to him, according to the order of 
his holiness. 

Then the cardinal-elect advances towards the altar, and 
kneeling down, takes the same oath before the prelate which 
the newly-created cardinals take at Rome before the pope. 
Then the prelate arises from his seat, and taking off his mitre, 
says some prayers over the new cardinal, whose head is co¬ 
vered with the capuche; after which the prelate puts his hat 
on, and at the same time repeats a prayer out of the Roman 
Pontifical. He afterwards gives him the kiss cf peace, upon 
which the Te Dewm and some prayers are sung, which con¬ 
clude the ceremony. The newly-created cardinal returns in 
cavalcade, with the red hat on his head. 

The newly-elected cardinal is obliged to make the legate, 

33 


386 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


or messenger, a present of one hundred ducats at least; this 
being the fixed sum; but it amounts frequently to one, three, 
five thousand, and sometimes more ducats. The hat is usually 
handed to the officiating prelate by the pope’s nuncio ; but in 
case there be no such personage present, this office is perform¬ 
ed by the emperor, king, archbishop, duke, or other highest 
person in authority. 

When a cardinal dies, he is immediately embalmed, and the 
following night is carried into the church where his obsequies 
are to be solemnized. One of the largest churches 

of Cardinals g -enera ^y ma de use of for this purpose, in order 
that the greater concourse of people may assem¬ 
ble in it. The inside is hung throughout with black velvet, and 
adorned with escutcheons, on which the arms of the deceased 
are represented; and a great number of white tapers are 
lighted up on both sides of the nave. 

In the middle of the church a very high and large bed of 
state is set, covered with black brocade, with two pillows of the 
same colour, both which being put one above other, are laid 
under the head of the deceased cardinal, whose corpse lies in 
the middle of the bed, in such a manner that his feet point 
towards the great gate, and his head towards the high altar. 

The corpse of the deceased cardinal is clothed in pontifical 
vestments, viz. the mitre; the cope, if he were a bishop ; the 
chasuble, if a priest; and the tunic, if a deacon. The six mas¬ 
ters of the ceremonies assist in this church, clothed in cassocs 
of purple serge, and all the pope’s couriers in long robes of 
the same colour, with silver maces in their hands. There 
are likewise two of the deceased’s tall lacqueys, each holding 
a wand, on which are fixed purple taffety streamers with the 
arms of the deceased cardinal; with these they continually 
fan his face, in order to keep off the flies. 

On the morrow, after vespers, the religious mendicants meet 
together in a chapel of the same church, where they sing the 
matins of the dead, each order repeating alternately a Noclur - 
num , and the pope’s music the Lauds. In the mean time the 
cardinals arrive clothed in purple, and at their coming into 
the church they put on a cope of the same colour. They then 
advance towards the high altar, where the host is kept, and 
there offer up their prayers, and adore it upon their knees. 
They afterwards go, one after another, to the feet of the de¬ 
ceased, and repeat the Pater Noster , fyc. to which they add 
certain verses out of the Scripture, and the prayer, Absolve , <$c. 
from the office of the dead. 

They then make the usual sprinkling with holy water, and 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


387 


go and seat themselves in the choir, where they hear the office 
of the dead sung by several monks and priests with great so¬ 
lemnity. Others repeat it to themselves, not stirring out of 
their places till it be ended ; the cardinals, priests, and bishops, 
being on the epistle side, and the rest of the clergy in the 
lowest seats, which stand round the choir. The cardinals are 
always seated on the highest chairs or benches. 

This being done, the congregation return to their respective 
homes, without any farther ceremony. At night, the corpse 
is stripped, and laid in a leaden coffin, which is put in another 
of cypress-wood covered with black cloth. The corpse is then 
carried in a coach, accompanied by the rector of the parish and 
the chaplains of the deceased, who go by torch-light to the 
church, where he is to be interred. 

The majority of the cardinals who die in Rome are buried 
in the church of their title; unless they were Romans of ex¬ 
alted condition, and had desired to be interred in the vaults of 
their ancestors; or in the case of some foreign cardinal, who 
chooses to be buried in the church in Rome belonging to the 
clergy of his nation. 

Four of the cardinals are buried with greater pomp and 
magnificence than the rest, viz. the dean of the Apostolic Col¬ 
lege, the grand penitentiary, the vice-chancellor, and the ca- 
merlingo. 


The Romish rituals enjoin that his holiness, finding him¬ 
self on his death-bed, must recollect himself, examine his con¬ 
science, make his confession, desire his confessor interment of 
to give him a plenary indulgence, make some a p 0 p e . 
reparation to those whom he has offended in his 
lifetime ; afterwards receive the viaticum, assemble the sacred 
college, make a profession of faith before them, and beseech 
his eminences to forgive him for all those things, in which he 
may have offended any of them during his pontificate. The 
Roman ceremonial, among other particulars, enjoins his holi¬ 
ness, when he finds his last hour approaching, to recommend 
to the cardinals the choice of a pastor worthy to be his suc¬ 
cessor. 

When the pope is at the last gasp, his nephews and domes¬ 
tics strip the palace of all its furniture; for immediately after 
his holiness has expired, the officers of the Apostolic Chamber 
come to seize the goods ; but the pope’s relations usually take 
care that they find nothing but bare walls, and the corpse lying 
on a straw bed with an old wooden candlestick , in which there 
is only the snuff of a taper burning. 

At the same time, the cardinal camerlingo comes, in purple 


388 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


vestments, accompanied by the clerks of the chamber in 
mourning, to inspect tiie pope’s corpse. He calls him thrice by 
his Christian name; and finding he*gives no answer, nor dis¬ 
covers the least sign of life, he causes an instrument of his death 
to be drawn up by the apostolical prothonotaries. He then 
takes from the master of the pope’s chamber the fisherman’s 
ring, which is the pope’s seal, (made of solid gold, and worth a 
hundred crowns,) and breaks it to pieces; giving them to the 
masters of the ceremonies, whose perquisite they are. The 
datary and secretaries, who have the rest of the seals of the 
deceased pope, are obliged to carry them to the cardinal ca- 
merlingo, who causes them to be broken in presence of the 
auditor of the chamber, the treasurer, and the apostolic clerks. 

After this, the cardinal-patron and the pope’s nephews are 
obliged to leave the palace in which he died, which is gene¬ 
rally the Vatican, or Monte Cavallo, unless he happens to die 
suddenly. The cardinal camerlingo takes possession of these 
palaces in the name of the apostolic chamber ; and after having- 
entered it with the formality above-mentioned, he takes a short 
inventory of the remaining moveables; but, as before ob¬ 
served, there is seldom any thing left. 

In the mean time, the penitentiaries of St. Peter, and the 
almoner of the deceased pope, after having caused the corpse 
to be shaved and washed, have it immediately embalmed. 
The dead pontiff is then clothed in his pontifical vestments, 
having his mitre on his head, and the chalice in his hand. 
The camerlingo, in the mean time, sends a body of guards to 
secure the gates of the city, the castle of St. Angelo, and other 
posts. The caporioni, or captains of the districts, likewise, 
patrole night and day with their guards, to prevent those who . 
are caballing for the election of a new pope, from raising any 
sedition. 

After the camerlingo has thus provided for the security of 
Rome, he comes out of the apostolical palace, and goes round 
the city in his coach, accompanied by the Swiss guards, and 
the captain of the guards, who usually attended upon the de¬ 
ceased pope. When this march begins, the great bell of the 
capitol is rung, which is never heard but at the death of the 
pontiff to give notice of it to the citizens. 

At this signal, the rota and all the tribunals of justice are 
shut up, as likewise the datary, pursuant to the bull of Pius V. 
in eligendis. No more bulls are now given out; the ordinary 
congregations are likewise suspended, insomuch that none but 
the cardinal camerlingo, and the cardinal grand penitentiary, 
continue in their employments. 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


389 


As the popes have made choice of St. Peter’s church for 
the place of their interment, when they die at Mount Gluirinal 
(now Monte Cavallo) or in some other of their palaces ; they 
are carried to the Vatican in a large open litter, in the middle 
of which is a bed of state, on which the corpse of the pope is 
laid, clothed in his pontifical vestments. 

The litter is preceded by a van-guard of horsemen and 
trumpeters, who make a mournful sound, their instruments 
being furled with purple and black crape: these trumpeters 
march at the head of the first troop, mounted on dapple horses, 
the housings of which are of the same colour with the stream¬ 
ers fixed to the trumpets; but those of the van-guard are black 
velvet, wuth gold and silver fringe. These horsemen have 
their lances reversed; each squadron has a standard before it, 
surrounded with kettle-drums, muffled, which are beaten in a 
mournful manner. 

Several battalions of the Swiss guards advance next; one 
half having muskets, and the other halberds, reversed. These 
are followed by twenty-four grooms, each leading a horse 
covered with sable housings that trail upon the ground. 
Several of the deceased pope’s tall lacqueys walk without order, 
between the led horses, with lighted torches of yellow wax 
in their hands. 

Then the twelve penitentiaries of St. Peter’s advance, with 
each a flambeau in his hand, and surrounded with Swiss 
guards armed with backswords and halberds, and having 
the pope’s litter in the midst of them. Immediately before 
the litter comes the cross-bearer mounted on a tall horse, with 
a caparison of wire all in net work, like a horse prepared for 
battle. Behind the bed of state, on which the pope’s body 
lies, is seen the chief groom on a black horse, whose ears are 
cropped, and whose harness consists only of several stripes of 
linen cloth, a piece of white satin, and a grand plume of feathers, 
in three ranges, one above the other, on his head, and some 
gaudy tinsel. 

Afterwards, twenty-four more grooms come forward, leading 
black mules with white housings, and twelve tall lacqueys 
with white horses covered w 7 ith black velvet. After these, a 
troop of light horse advance, the men being all clothed in 
purple. Then come a troop of cuirassiers, and lastly the re¬ 
mainder of the Swiss guards, whose march is closed hy a 
troop of carabineers, who guard a few pieces of brass cannon 
gilt, drawn on their carriages. 

In the event of the pope dying in the Vatican, his body is 
immediately carried, by the back stairs, into Sixtus V.’» 
33* 


m 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CIIURCII. 


Chapel. Alter it has lain there twenty-four hours, it is 
embalmed, and on the same day is carried to St. Peter’s 
Church, attended only by the penitentiaries, the almoners, 
and other ecclesiastics, who follow the pontiff ’s corpse as far 
as the portico of the great church. The canons of the church 
come and receive it, singing the usual prayers appointed for 
the dead ; and afterwards carry it into the chapel of the 
Blessed Trinity, where it is exposed for three days, on a 
bed of state raised pretty high, to the sight of the people, who 
crowd to kiss the feet of his holiness through an iron rail, by 
which this chapel is enclosed. 

Three days after, the corpse being again embalmed with 
fresh perfumes, is laid in a leaden coffin, at the bottom of 
which the cardinals, whom he had promoted, lay gold and 
silver medals, on one side of which is the head of the de¬ 
ceased pope, their benefactor, and on the reverse, his most 
remarkable actions. This coffin is afterwards enclosed in 
another made of cypress wood, and is deposited within the 
wall of some chapel, till such lime as a mausoleum can be 
erected to his honour in St'. Peter’s, or any other church, in 
case he himself had not given any orders for the erecting of 
one during his lifetime; which is frequently the case. But 
when his holiness declares by his last will, or by word of 
mouth, that he chooses not to be buried in St. Peter’s, but in 
some other church which he names, then his body must not 
be translated till after he has lain a whole year in-some of the 
chapels of that church; and in this case the corpse cannot be 
removed till a large sum of money has been paid to the chapter 
of St. Peter; it sometimes costs upwards of a million of 
livres, in case the pope, whose corpse they are desirous of 
removing, was famous for his piety, and that any grounds 
exist to presume that he will one day be canonized. 

The Apostolic Chamber defray’s the expenses of the pope’s 
burial, which are fixed at one hundred and fifty thousand 
livres; in which sum, not only the expenses of the funeral 
are included, but also those to be paid for the erection of a 
mausoleum in St. Peter’s, and illuminating a chapel of state, 
where a mass of Requiem is to be sung every morning for a 
week together, in presence of the sacred college, for the repose 
of the soul of the deceased pontiff The funeral obsequies 
end the ninth day by another solemn mass, which is sung by a 
cardinal bishop, assisted at the altar by four other cardinals 
with their mitres on, who, together with the officiating priest, 
at the conclusion of the office, incense the representation of 
the coffin, and sprinkle it in the manner enjoined in the ritual. 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


391 


in presence of four other cardinals, and all the prelates and 
officers of the late pope’s court, who immediately retire as 
soon as the last Rcquiescat in Pace is pronounced, to which 
they answer, Amen. 

After the pope’s decease, the office of the mass is said ac¬ 
cording to the circumstances of the times; and one of the 
lessons is applied to the sacred college. On the first and last 
day of the nine days’ devotion, two hundred masses are said 
for the soul of the deceased pontiff the solemn mass is sung 
by a cardinal-bishop, and a hundred masses are sung on the 
other days. 

SEC. IV.-HIERARCHY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

The pope, considered as a bishop, has a diocese subordi¬ 
nate to him. In this quality he appoints for his vicar-general 
a bishop, who, ever since Pius IV., is always a 
cardinal. The office of vicar-general is for life, 

He is, ex officio, the proper judge of ecclesiastics ra f cai ene ~ 
both secular and regular of both sexes, and also 
of the Jews and courtezans at Rome, and in its dependencies. 
He confirms and confers all sacred orders. He is empowered 
to inspect and visit all churches, monasteries, hospitals, and 
other pious houses, those of foreign nations excepted, which 
are all exempt. He has a vicegerent, who is always a bishop, 
to assist him in his episcopal functions. He has likewise a 
lieutenant, who is a prelate, but under the rank of bishop; a 
referendary of both signatures, who takes cognizance of all 
civil causes at his court; and a judge criminal who is a lay¬ 
man to judge all crimes committed by clerks and regulars. 
But that which makes the post of grand-vicar very considera¬ 
ble and profitable, is the power he has cf deciding all differ¬ 
ences that arise relating to matrimony. 

The Apostolic Chamber pays him provisionally, exclusive 
of the profits arising from his courts, twelve hundred crowns 
of gold annually. He has, besides the above-mentioned offi¬ 
cers, four notaries, or registrars, a provost, and a company of 
bailiffs and sergeants. 

The chancellor wrote formerly, in the pope’s name, all the 
rescripts, doubts, and scruples with respect to faith, which bi¬ 
shops and others proposed to him; insomuch The Pope’s 
that he executes the office of secretary of state, Chancellor 
of the briefs, and that of chancellor. This dig- &[jd Vice- 
nity Is purchased, and costs a hundred thousand ' anc '" ° r ‘ 
crowns ; it yields about twelve thousand crowns per annum to 


392 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


the incumbent, and is for life. The jurisdiction of the cardi- 
nal vice-chancellor extends to the issuing out all apostolical 
letters and bulls, and also to all petitions signed by the pope. 

The regent of the apostolic chancery is established by the 
vice-chancellor’s patent, by which he is empowered to commit 

Recent and a PP ea ls to the referendaries and auditors of 
Registrars of the rota; and these he distributes to them by or- 
the Pope’s der, that each of them may be employed, and get 
Chancery. money in their turns. There are twelve referen¬ 
daries, who are all prelates, and are called registrars of the 
high court; they are vlothed in long purple robes. These 
employments are purchased, and the vice-chancellor has the 
nomination of six, the others being in the gift of the pope. 
The post of regent is purchased at 30,000 crowns, and the 
annual produce amounts to 3,000. The posts of the prelates 
referendaries, of both signatures, who are registrars of the 
high court, sell for 13,000 crowns, and produce each 1200 
crowns annually. These thirteen prelates have their seats 
when the pope assists solemnly at the office, but the regent 
never appears there in that quality, to prevent any disputes 
about precedency. 

The registrars of the high court draw up the minutes of all 
bulls, from the petitions signed by the pope, and collate them 
after they are written on parchment; they afterwards send 
them to the registrars of the lower court, who, with the regis¬ 
trars or apostolical writers, tax them. All these employments 
would not be worth so much, nor produce ten per cent, profit, 
were the bulls which collate to rich benefices issued out gra¬ 
tis ; but nothing is ever purchased from the apostolical chan¬ 
cery, without paying sums proportionately to the value of the 
benefices, or other grants. 

The cardinal-nephew, if the pope have any, or another car¬ 
dinal, is always the pope’s principal secretary of state; for this 
t post is never given to any person under the dig- 

taryof: Stated" n ?y °** car dinal. There are ten other secreta¬ 
ries of state, between whom, the provinces of the 
ecclesiastical state are divided; but they are in such subordi¬ 
nation to him, that they do nothing without his participation; 
so that, properly speaking, they are no more than under-sec¬ 
retaries of state. 

The cardinal-secretary signs, by the pope’s order, all letters 
directed to princes, nuncios, vice-legates, governors, and pre¬ 
fects ; and the patents of all those who are appointed for the 
government and administration of justice, in the whole terri¬ 
tory of the ecclesiastical state. But the provisions or patents 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


393 


of governors of cities, and large towns surrounded with walls; 
those of legates, vice-legates, and presidents, are drawn up by 
brief, under the fisherman’s ring or seal; and all those who 
are raised to these employments, cardinals excepted, take an 
oath before the cardinal camerlingo, in the presence of a no¬ 
tary of the chamber, and swear on their own briefs. The ab¬ 
sent do the same by proxy. 

All the ambassadors of princes, after having had audience 
of the pope, come and visit the cardinal-secretary before they 
wait upon any of the magistrates of Rome; because the post 
of superintendent of the ecclesiastical state is annexed to this 
particular office. These two posts are for life, and the pope 
generally bestows them gratis; but sometimes, in case he be 
in urgent necessity for money, he sells them: they produce 
15,000 crowns annually. 

The under-secretaries of state are, by their office, obliged 
to draw up all the minutes which the cardinal-secretary may 
require, and to make a fair copy of all the letters and patents 
which he is to sign. 


The prefect of the briefs is always a cardinal, whose post 
is purchased, and is for life: it costs 20,000 crowns; and pro¬ 
duces annually 2500 crowns, exclusive of the ex- p f 0 f the 
traordinary perquisites, which he receives from Briefs, 
all those whose briefs he despatches. By his 
office he is obliged to review all the minutes, and sign all the 
copies of assessed briefs; but he is neither empowered nor 
commissioned to view the secret briefs. He is generally de¬ 
puted by his holiness, with other prelates, to assist at the sig¬ 
nature of grants, which is made in the pontifical palace. His 
post is very honourable and profitable, for he has a seat in the 
pope’s palace near the datary, and when he revises the briefs, 
he may add or cut off any clauses: on which account, the 
secretaries, who all in their several turns assess these briefs, 
rate them either higher or lower, accordingly as they are de¬ 
sirous of favouring those who are to have them despatched; 
for which reason, all who come on these occasions, pay their 
court assiduously to this prefect, and endeavour to bribe him 
to their interest by some present, proportionable to the advan¬ 
tages granted by those briefs. 

The office of 'prefect of the signature of favour is never 
given to any person under the dignity of cardinal, who re¬ 
ceives from the apostolical chamber a yearly 
pension of 1200 crowns, so long as, by the J h ]j 0 th gj^! 
pope’s favour, he enjoys this post, who removes natures . 
him whenever he pleases. The chief employ- 


394 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


ment of the cardinal-prefect is to preside over all those pre* 
lates, who assist at the signature of favour, made every Tues¬ 
day before the pope. He likewise signs all the petitions 
which are presented to this assembly, in which twelve cardi¬ 
nals, at least, always meet by the order of his holiness, one 
of whom is generally the cardinal-prefect of the signature of 
justice. There are likewise in this assembly twelve prelates 
referendaries, who have each their vote in the signature of 
justice. 

The jurisdiction of the 'prefect of the signature of justice 
extends to judge the causes of those persons who think them¬ 
selves injured by any sentence given by the ordinary judges. 
Every Thursday twelve prelates assemble at his house, and 
these are the most ancient referendaries of the signature, and 
have an active voice. 

The college of the prelates referendaries is not limited as 
to the number, and the employments are not purchased, but 
are only titles of honour, which the pope bestows 
Relates on p er sons of high birth and learning, as a step 
ries c ' towards the most considerable employments of 
the Court of Rome. A person, before he can 
be thus promoted, must first have the nomination of the cardi¬ 
nal-patron, and the pope’s consent. The cardinal-prefect of 
the signature of justice afterwards orders one of his officers to 
institute the proper inquiries, pursuant to the constitution of 
Sixtus V., by which it is enacted, that every candidate must 
prove he is doctor of both laws, that he has been an inhabitant 
of Rome for two years, that he is twenty-five years of age, 
and that he has wealth sufficient to support the prelature with 
honour. 

The pope’s datary and the chancery courts were formerly 
one and the same thing, but the multitude of affairs to be 
transacted therein, obliged his holiness to divide 
dTi!- 6 Po P es it into two tribunals, which are so nearly related 
to one another, that the chancery does no more 
than despatch all that has passed through the datary court. 

The officer called datary is a prelate, and sometimes a 
cardinal deputed by his holiness to receive all such petitions 
as are presented to him, touching the provisions for benefices. 
By this post, the datary is empowered to grant all benefices 
that do not produce upwards of twenty-four ducats annually, 
without acquainting his holiness therewith; but for those 
which amount to more, he is obliged to cause the provisions 
thereof to be signed by the pope, who admits him to an audi¬ 
ence every day. In case there be several candidates for the 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


395 


same benefice, he is at liberty to bestow it on whomsoever of 
them he thinks proper, provided he has the requisite qualifica¬ 
tions. The datary has a yearly salary of two thousand 
crowns, exclusive of the immense perquisites which he re¬ 
ceives from those who address him for any benefice. 

A Dominican friar, of the order commonly called the 
Preaching Brothers, is always Master of the Pope's Palace t 
ever since the founder, who was canonized by 
the name of St. Dominic, was raised to that The Major 
dignity by Honorius III. in 1216. He preaches Dom° Q^ rs 
once a month in the public chapel of the palace, of the p 0 p e > s 
or appoints one of his brethren to perform the household! 
service for him. He has a seat in the pope’s 
chapel, next to the deacon, or most ancient auditor of the rota. 
He has no fixed salary, because, by the statutes of his order, 
he is not allowed to have any money which he can call his 
own; but he is allowed a table at court with his companions 
and servants, and a coach is kept for him. 

He is the judge in ordinary of all printers, engravers, and 
booksellers, who are not permitted to publish or sell any work 
without his permission being first obtained. All books that 
come to Rome are examined by him, or his officers, who con¬ 
fiscate all that are prohibited by the index of the Council of 
Trent. 

The other chief officers that reside in the pontifical palace, 
and near the person of his holiness, are the major-domo , or 
master of the household, which officers, in the courts of other 
princes, are called high-stewards. The pope’s master of the 
household superintends all the domestics of the apostolical 
palace; but his holiness employs the chief steward of the 
hospital of the Literate Orphans, to furnish him with provi¬ 
sions, and the hospital has proper fees allowed to it. 

There are always two gentlemen near the pope’s person, 
who have the title of masters of the chamber. The chief 
cup-bearer , who is called coppeiro, presents the glass to his 
holiness, with a salver which he holds before him, and kneels 
on both knees, when the pope drinks. The officer whose 
business it is to see the dishes brought in order to the pope’s 
table, is called in Italian scalco. The carver , who cuts up 
the meat before the sovereign pontiff, the chief harbinger 
who regulates the apartments of the pope’s household, and all 
the other officers above-mentioned, are prelates, who wear 
purple vestments, and have each two deputies to officiate in 
their absence. 

There are likewise several privy chamberlains, all prelates, 


396 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


who are clothed in long purple cassocs with sleeves trailing 
to the ground, but have no cloak. Among these, eight are 
declared partakers, and divide among themselves whatever 
presents are made them; and of these the pope chooses one to 
be his privy-treasurer, whose business it is to distribute such 
alms as his holiness bestows privately. 

Another of these privy-chamberlains is appointed master of 
the wardrobe. He is entrusted with all the plate, whether of 
gold or silver; all the jewels and shrines for relics, as also 
the Agnus Deis , which he distributes daily to pilgrims and 
strangers at a certain hour. The pope!s physician in ordinary 
is also a privy chamberlain, but not the other two, who are 
physicians of his household. 

The fixed pension of each privy-chamberlain amounts to a 
thousand crowns annually; and the partakers have at least 
double that sum arising from the presents made at the crea¬ 
tion and death of every cardinal. The chamberlain who dis- 

V 

tributes the Agnus Deis receives more than all the rest, par¬ 
ticularly when any extraordinary solemnity induces foreigners 
to visit Rome; such as the years of the jubilee, an embassy, a 
holy canonization that makes a great noise, or any famous 
miracle. In such cases he has several thousand crowns given 
him for the little consecrated images of wax. 

The pope’s privy chaplains have the same salary as the 
chamberlains. They assist in saying the office of the brevia¬ 
ry, and wait upon him at mass, when he celebrates it in pri¬ 
vate. One of these carries the cross before his holiness when 
he goes abroad, and in case he goes on foot another of them 
supports his train. 

When the pope assists at solemn mass, and in processions, 
his chaplains carry the mitres and triple crowns enriched with 
precious stones, which they display in a very pompous man¬ 
ner, holding them aloft with both their hands to show them to 
the people as Iris holiness w r alks along. There are also chap¬ 
lains belonging to the guards and grooms, who say mass every 
morning in the guard-room, &c. these are called common 
chaplains; their yearly salary amounts to no more than fifty 
crowns, but then they are paid besides for whatever masses 
they celebrate. 

The pope’s assistants and valets cle chambre have five hun¬ 
dred crowns a year, and several other very considerable pro¬ 
fits ; not to mention that as they have a more free access to his 
holiness than the rest of his domestics, they never fail of beni- 
fices. 

There are likewise honorary chamberlains, who are pre- 



Obsequies of the deceased pope. p. 387. 


































































































































































































































































IlOMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


S97 


lates of the first quality, among whom the pope generally 
makes choice of a Frenchman, a German, and a Spaniard. 
The chamberlains of the Boussole , are so many ushers, be¬ 
cause they always keep a guard at his holiness’s chamber- 
door. The chamberlains without the walls are so called, be¬ 
cause they follow the pope without the Vatican, and attend 
upon him in all his public cavalcades, with the chamberlain’s 
esquires, clothed in red cloth, and covered with a large cope 
of the same colour furred with ermine. Each of these do duty 
in the apostolical palace, and have their distinct office; but the 
honorary chamberlains never mount guard, nor appear in the 
pope’s ante-chamber but when they please. These arc gene¬ 
rally employed by the pope to carry the red cap or hat, to any 
newly-elected cardinals, who are not in Rome at the time of 
their being raised to that dignity. 

The pope has a master of the household and scalco, in the 
Vatican as well as on Monte Cavallo; and another carver, 
whose office it is to prepare the banquet, which he gives to the 
cardinals on certain extraordinary occasions, and on solemn 
festivals; another scalco and carver for the ambassadors, and 
other distinguished foreigners, whom the pope entertains in a 
splendid manner ; and another, who prepares the dinner given 
to the thirteen poor pilgrims, serves up the first dish at their 
table, and treats them in a magnificent manner every day, in 
imitation of Pope Clement VIII., who restored this custom, 
first introduced by Gregory the Great. These officers are 
clothed in purple. 

The pope always makes choice of a native of Rome for the 
master of his stables. This officer bears the name of cavila- 
rizzo. 

The harbingers above-mentioned, assign the apartments to 
the pope’s household, and have deputy harbingers and their 
assistants, who are entrusted with the hangings, ornaments, 
and other furniture of the pontifical palace. They are like¬ 
wise employed to adorn the apartments when cither consistory, 
signature of favour, or congregation is held. 

°There are likewise footmen, called grooms , -who keep guard 
in the halls of the pope’s palace, and are very numerous, be¬ 
cause the pope bestows this place on all those who were his 
grooms when he was cardinal; and moreover, he likewise 
gives those places to all the chiefs of the grooms that are in 
the service of the cardinals and ambassadors, who are present 
at Rome at the time of his creation. Their clothing is a red, 
flowered satin ; and whenever they go out, they have a blue 
cloth cloak and a sword, the hilt of which is of silver gilt. 

34 


398 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


The pope has twelve officers, who have each a red wand, 
and twelve others, who carry silver maces, and walk before 
him in a ceremonial habit, every time he appears in public 
with his mitre and cope on. When the consistory is held, they 
guard the door, and wait upon his holiness when he is enter¬ 
ing or departing. These twenty-four posts are all' purchased 
for six hundred crowns each, and produce about fifty annually. 

The pope’s sacristan, who takes the title of prefect, is al¬ 
ways a friar of the order of the hermits of St. Austin. This 

Prefect of P re ^ ect entrusted with all the ornaments, gold 
the Pope’s Sa- and silver vessels, crosses, cups, thuribles, shrines 
cristy. for enclosing relics, and other valuable things be¬ 

longing to his holiness’s sacristy. 

It is he that prepares the host, and inspects the bread and 
wine, when the pope celebrates mass pontifically, or in private. 
Whenever his holiness assists solemnly at mass, his sacristan 
places himself among the assisting bishops, above the dean, or 
the senior auditors of the rota; and observes to take off or put 
on the pope’s mitre, as often as he is required by the rubric of 
the Roman Pontifical. 

He distributes the relics, and signs the memorials of those 
indulgences, which pilgrims desire for themselves and rela¬ 
tions. We shall make two remarks on this head:— First , 
that indulgences are never granted to any pilgrims but to 
those who are actually upon a journey, and appear personally 
before the pope’s sacristan. 

Secondly , with regard to those indulgences which persons 
■who go to Rome desire for their relations, they are not to be 
granted to them but when they are in their expiring moments; 
i. e> the pope grants by briefs, addressed to certain persons, for 
whose navies blanks are left , a power of making choice of 
what confessor they shall think proper, when at the point of 
death; and to be absolved by him from all sins in general, and 
all reserved cases, of what nature soever; with a full power 
to this confessor, of remitting to the person to whom this brief 
is given, all the punishments -which God might otherwise have 
inflicted on him for his sins, whether in this life or after his 
death, in hell or in purgatory. 

Formerly, the chancellor superintended the pope’s library ; 
but in latter ages it is an office apart, yielding twelve hun- 

Pone’s Li- ^ re( ^ crowns annually, to the possessor, 

brarian. The pope never bestows it on any person under 

the dignity of a cardinal, who assumes the title 
of librarian of the Vatican. He has two sub-librarians, the 
first of whom is generally one of the pope’s domestic prelates, 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CIIURCH. 


399 


and has six hundred crowns a year, with an allowance of 
bread and wine for the whole year. The second has four hun¬ 
dred crowns, and the same provision as the former. 

These three places are always filled by persons of great 
learning, who, to the knowledge of other tongues, add the 
Oriental languages in particular. The librarian has the di¬ 
rection of a noble printing-house, where nothing is printed 
without his permission. It abounds with types of all the 
known tongues in w 7 hich the learned are conversant. 

His holiness has six masters of the ceremonies, two of whom 
are called assistants, and the other four supernumeraries. 
The two assistants receive of every newly-cre- M astero f the 
ated cardinal 224 crowns of gold, and of the Ceremonies, 
heirs of those w 7 ho die, 100 crowns ; which sums 
they equally share. Their employments bring them in alto¬ 
gether about 1000 crowns yearly, besides a table in the Vati¬ 
can. All the chamberlains have an equal authority to regu¬ 
late pontifical functions, to acquaint the cardinals w r ith their 
duty, and to issue orders to all persons belonging to the court. 

They all have admission into the conclave, and likewise in 
the congregation of rites, but one only goes to the ceremonial 
congregation. Whenever the pope sends any cardinal a la¬ 
tere out of Rome, he deputes one of the supernumerary mas¬ 
ters of the ceremonies to attend upon him. They are clothed 
in purple cassocs, with black buttons and facings, and sleeves 
trailing on the ground; in the papal chapel they wear a red 
cassoc as the rest of the cardinals, and rochets like the prelates. 

The Ruota is one of the most august tribunals of Rome, 
and is composed of twelve prelates, one of whom must be a 
German, another a Frenchman, and two Span¬ 
iards. Each of the sovereigns of these three na- t ^ota^^ °* 
tions names a prelate, who bears the name of 
his crown. The other eight are Italians, three of w^hom must 
be Romans, one Bolognese, a Ferraran, a Milanese, a Vene¬ 
tian, and a Tuscan. Each auditor has four notaries or regis¬ 
trars, and the senior auditor performs the function of presi¬ 
dent. 

They meet in the apostolical palace every Monday and Fri¬ 
day, except during vacations; but wTien the pope resides 
in the palace of Mount Quirinal, the assemblies are held in 
the chancery. 

They take cognizance of all such suits in the territory of 
the church as are brought in by way of appeal, and also of 
matters beneficiary and patrimonial. This tribunal does not 
judge a cause at once f but pronounces as many sentences, 


400 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


called decisions, as there are points contested in a suit. After 
these sentences are given, the party may get his cause revised 
again by the pope himself, at the signature of favour, which is 
a kind of civil petition. The place of these auditors produces 
but 1000 crowns yearly to each, and they receive no fees; but 
then they are generally created cardinals by way of reward 
for the pains they have taken. 

This council has the direction of all the pope’s demesnes, 
the finances of which consist in what is called the revenues 
Ti a °f t ^ ie Apostolic Chamber. It consists of the 
tolic Chamber" cardinal great chamberlain, who is at the head 
of it; of the governor of the ruota, who is the 
vice-chamberlain ; of a treasurer-general, an auditor, a presi¬ 
dent, an advocate-general, a solicitor-general, a commissary, 
and twelve clerks of the chamber; of whom four are, first the 
prefect of the plenty of grain ; a second the prefect of provi¬ 
sions, and such like commodities ; the third the prefect of the 
prisons; and the fourth the prefect of the streets. The re¬ 
maining eight are deputed to take cognizance of various causes, 
each privately in his chamber. 

Formerly the pope used to depute six clerks of his house¬ 
hold for the direction of his revenues, from which those who 
have the management of them receive their names. Sixtus 
V. ordered that their employments should be purchased, and 
increased their number to twelve. They meet every Monday 
and Friday in the pope’s palace, and their jurisdiction extends 
to all things relating to the pope’s demesnes. 

Each clerk of the chamber takes immediate cognizance of 
all causes that are sent up from the Apostolical Chamber by 
appeal. None of the places of clerk of the chamber are pur¬ 
chased for less than 80,000 crowns, nor yield less than 8000 
crowns annually. The posts of treasurer-general, and audi¬ 
tor of the Apostolical Chamber, are purchased for similar 
sums, and produce similar revenues. 

The temporal dominions of the pope are at present confined 
to a territory south of the river Po, in Italy, containing not 
Present state more than fifteen thousand square miles, and two 
of the Roman millions and five hundred thousand inhabitants. 
Catholic The ecclesiastical subjects of the pope are vari- 
lmci. ously estimated from eighty to one hundred and 
twenty millions, who are scattered over the whole world. 
The countries which are considered entirely papal, are the 
pope’s dominions in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and South Ame¬ 
rica ; France, Austria, Poland, Belgium, Ireland, and Canada, 
almost entirely. Switzerland has seven hundred thousand; 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


401 


England more than half a million. Others are found in Rus¬ 
sia, Sweden, Denmark, the West India Islands, and the United 
States. 

As a temporal prince, the political power of the pope is now 
regarded with absolute contempt by all the European go¬ 
vernments ; but it is still supported by them as a matter of 
policy. 

France, more particularly, appears almost ready to throw 
off entirely the trammels of the papal yoke; for, as the Ca¬ 
tholic priesthood has been found uniformly to give its support 
to an arbitrary form of government, and to neglect the instruc¬ 
tion of the people, the Bourbon dynasty has been overthrown 
by the revolution of 1830, and the Romish Church cut off 
from being the established religion, and free toleration granted. 
Still, as the Roman Catholic is the professed religion of the 
majority in the French nation, its clergy at present continue 
to receive their usual salaries from the new government. So 
grossly have the French been deluded with the popish cere¬ 
monies and superstitions, that the more intelligent have be¬ 
come infidels. Such, indeed, is the case throughout the Ro¬ 
man Catholic countries, and especially in Italy; the people 
therefore are ill-prepared, at present, to embrace the pure 
Christianity of the New Testament, of which, indeed, they are 
almost universally ignorant. Nevertheless, the vigorous ef¬ 
forts of some devoted servants of Christ at Paris, with several 
agents from the Methodist, Continental, London, and Baptist 
Missionary Societies in England, and especially with the re¬ 
vival of religion among the Protestants of the south of France, 
all contributing to the circulation of the scriptures, and the 
diffusion of divine knowledge, will, we trust, be blessed of God, 
to produce an evangelical reformation in that great country. 

Education being vigorously promoted through many parts 
of Germany, and the holy scriptures being extensively circu¬ 
lated, popery will not be able much longer to retain its hold 
on the millions in Austria and Hungary. Even the Italian 
states, and R»me itself, have received many copies of the 
blessed word of God; and it is believed, that not a few Catho¬ 
lics, and some of the priests, are sincerely studying the scrip¬ 
tures of truth for their internal salvation. Knowledge, by the 
British system of education, is increasing in South America; 
and, with it, the holy scriptures are circulated among the su¬ 
perstitious Catholics. 

In British India and the east, the Roman Catholic Church 
has an establishment of three archbishops and seventeen bish¬ 
ops, with many priests, besides Romish missionaries; bu 
34 * 


402 


ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


scriptural knowledge, as we have seen is advancing in those 
populous regions of the earth. 

Canada has the Roman Catholic system for the established 
religion ; and efforts are being made to extend the influence 
of popery in the United States of America, particularly in the 
wonderous valley of the Mississippi; but its antidote is provi¬ 
ded in the Bible. 

Ireland is chiefly popish; and in that injured, degraded, and 
distracted country, there are nearly five thousand Roman Ca¬ 
tholic priests. But scriptural light and knowledge are ad¬ 
vancing among the people, notwithstanding their prejudices 
against the Protestants. 

England, at the commencement of this century, it is said, 
had not quite fifty Roman Catholic chapels; now it has about 
four hundred and fifty : but this cannot be matter of wonder, 
when we consider the amazing increase of its population ; the 
influx of Irish; and the ignorance of multitudes of the lovrer 
classes concerning the essentials of religion as taught in the 
New Testament. But a scriptural education of the people 
with the diligent and faithful preaching of the Gospel, will be 
the effectual means of subverting every false system of reli¬ 
gion, and of converting the ignorant millions of mankind to 
the saving knowledge of God in Christ Jesus. 


PART IV 


RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS AND CEREMONIES OF PROTESTANT 

COMMUNITIES. 

Under the head of Protestant Communities it is proposed, 
for the sake of convenience, to treat of the principal denomi¬ 
nations which, whether strict or lax, orthodox, or otherwise, 
deny the supremacy of the Pope of Rome, and the discipline 
of that church ; adopting, for their profession of faith, articles 
in their estimation more scriptural, and ceremonies and modes 
of worship, varying according to their views of the require¬ 
ments of the gospel. 




LUTHERANS. 


403 


SEC. I.-LUTHERANS. 


The Lutherans derive their name from Martin Luther, a 
celebrated reformer, who, in the beginning of the „ . . 
sixteenth century, opposed the church of Rome 
with great zeal and success. 

The system of faith embraced by the Lutherans, was 
drawn up by Luther and Melancthon, and presented to the 
Emperor Charles V., in 1530, at the diet of Au- g g ^ 
gusta, or Augsburg, and hence called the Augus- p a i^ S em ° 
tan or Augsburg Confession. It is divided into 
two parts, of which th e former, containing twenty-one articles, 
was designed to represent, with truth and perspicuity, the 
religious opinions of the reformers; and the latter , containing 
seven articles, is employed in pointing out and confuting the 
seven capital errors which occasioned their separation from 
the church of Rome : these were, communion in one kind, the 
forced celibacy of the clergy, private masses, auricular confes¬ 
sion, legendary traditions, monastic vows, and the excessive 
pow r er of the church. From the time of Luther to the pre¬ 
sent day, no change has been introduced into the doctrine and 
discipline received in this church. The method, however, of 
illustrating, enforcing, and defending the doctrines of Chris¬ 
tianity, has undergone several changes in the Lutheran 
church; and, though the confessions continue the same, yet 
some of the doctrines which were warmly maintained by 
Luther, have been of late wholly abandoned by his followers. 
The Lutherans are far from allowing that good works are in 
any wise meritorious with regard to salvation. They ac¬ 
knowledge, generally, that Christ died for all who were par¬ 
takers of Adam’s transgression; but that those only who 
should believe in him, and persevere in that faith to their lives 
end, should be saved. The foreknowledge of Cod from all 
eternity of this faith is made by them the basis, or foundation, 
of the election or predestination of the faithful. They view 
election in the very same light as they do justification. If 
the instrumental cause of the latter be faith, God’s foreknow¬ 
ledge of that faith of the faithful is their election. As to free¬ 
will, the Lutherans deny its power before the conversion of a 
sinner, and maintain, that none are converted but by the pre¬ 
vailing efficacy of grace alone. The Lutherans acknowledge 
but two sacraments, that is to say, baptism, and the Lord’s 
supper. They deny transubstantiation, the mass, the eleva¬ 
tion and adoration of the host, the ceremonies, and all that ex- 


404 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


ternal worship, which the church of Rome observes, with 
respect to the body and blood of Jesus Christ: but they be¬ 
lieve, that the real presence of the humanity of Jesus Christ 
is with, in, and under the elements of bread and wine in the 
holy communion, and maintain in vindication of their ubiqui¬ 
ty, that all the perfections of Christ’s divinity were communi¬ 
cated to his humanity. They reject the adoration of saints 
and relics. Although it be our bpunden duty, they say, to 
imitate the saints, and set them before our eyes, as great ex¬ 
amples, yet we ought not to invoke them, nor imagine that 
there are any latent virtues in their relics, &c. They con¬ 
demn all acts of penance and human expiations, such as 
solemn vows, pilgrimages, nine days’ devotions, macerations, 
and other works of supererogation, that is to say, such morti¬ 
fications, as, by the laws of Christianity, are no ways imposed 
upon us, &c. They reject all distinction of meats, and the 
observance of Lent, all monastic vows and convents, the celi¬ 
bacy of the clergy, and the performance of divine service in 
an unknown tongue; and, in short, all the ceremonies prac¬ 
tised in the Romish church. 

Their pastors, with their several congregations, either meet 
at the parsonage, or at some convenient place near the church 
Cons c a ^ n ^ enc ^ e ^ 10 consecrated, and afterwards march 
tion of^their * n P rocess i° n two and two, once at least, and 
churches. sometimes thrice, all round it, singing certain di¬ 
vine hymns or canticles all the way. As soon 
as this previous act of devotion is over, they enter the church, 
where the service is opened with singing again; after which 
some portion of the sacred scriptures is read to them, and a 
sermon preached on the solemnity of the day. If the income 
or revenue of the church will admit of it, or the congregation 
are able and willing to defray the expense, the superintendent 
of their metropolis is requested to assist at the ceremony, to 
give his benediction to the church, and consecrate it with some 
proper discourse of his own composing, which favour is ac¬ 
knowledged, not only by a handsome gratuity, but an elegant 
entertainment. 

Two divines are generally appointed for the purpose of or¬ 
dination, who not only inquire into the real merit, and natural 

Their min- ( l ua ^fi cat i° ns °f the candidates, such for instance, 
isters. as a proper stature, a musical voice, health, and 

strength, bat also into their knowledge of the 
learned languages, their abilities to argue, on both sides, all 
controversial questions. They inquire likewise into the reli¬ 
gions principles, and particular tenet}, of the respective candi- 


LUTHERANS. 


405 


dates. It is highly requisite and just that they should be sound 
and orthodox, that is to say, be in all respects conformable to 
the doctrines which they are intended to maintain and teach, 
and which the church they are to serve professes; and that 
they should be fixed and unalterable during their establish¬ 
ment in that sacred function. After such due inquiries having 
been made, the candidate is ordered to preach before his exa¬ 
miners on some particular text of their own choosing. Upon 
the report of his being duly qualified, a church may be offered 
him; however, according to the Saxon discipline, he is obliged, 
before he is absolutely declared minister of any congregation, 
to preach several times before them, and the opinion of the 
people must afterwards be consulted, and their approbation 
and consent procured. 

The day of ordination being fixed, the candidate repairs to 
the church, where he is to be ordained in the presence of se¬ 
veral ministers, ecclesiastical judges, and a nu¬ 
merous congregation of the faithful. He there Ordination 
makes a confession of his faith, either before, or °f ministers, 
some time during the sermon. In the prayer 
after the sermon, the candidate is particularly taken notice of, 
and prayed for by name. As soon as the minister withdraws 
from the pulpit, the veni spiritus sancte is immediately sung, 
and during the performance the superintendent, who is pri¬ 
mate of the Lutheran clergy, repairs to the altar, accompanied 
by six colleagues, or coadjutors, and followed by the candidate, 
who falls down on his knees before him. Here the superin¬ 
tendent, addressing himself to his six colleagues, having first 
communicated the candidate’s request, invites them to join 
with him in prayer on his behalf; in the next place he reads 
the formulary of election, which is accompanied with an¬ 
other prayer; and after that, directs his discourse to his six 
coadjutors, saying, “ Dearly beloved brethren in our Lord Je¬ 
sus, I exhort you to lay your hands on this candidate, who 
presents himself here before us in order to be admitted a mi¬ 
nister of the church of God, according to the ancient apostoli¬ 
cal institution, and to concur with me in investing him with 
that sacred office.” After this formal address, he lays his 
hands directly on the head of the candidate, and says to him, 
Sis maneasque consecraius Deo, which literally construed is, 
Be thou, and so remain to be, devoted to the service of God. 
The six colleagues repeat, after the superintendents, the ce¬ 
remony of imposition of hands, and make use of the same 
form of words: after which, the superintendent addresses him¬ 
self to the person thus ordained, in the terms following: “Being 


406 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


assembled here with the aid and assistance of the Holy Ghost, 
we have made our humble supplications to God for you, and 
hope that he will vouchsafe to hear our prayers. Wherefore, 
I ordain, confirm, and establish you, in the name of the Lord, 
pastor and spiritual instructer of the saints belonging to the 
church, &c.; govern it in the fear of the Lord, and have a 
watchful eye over it, as a faithful shepherd over his flock,” 
&c. These words are, properly speaking, the very essence 
of ordination. The superintendent, after he has pronounced 
this exhortation, withdraws from the altar, and the stated min¬ 
ister of the place approaches it, dressed in his sacerdotal vest¬ 
ments, to read the communion service, and to consecrate the 
bread and wine, which he administers to the new pastor, who 
receives it upon his knees. Some few hymns, or canticles, 
and the usual benediction, conclude the ceremony. 

At their first entrance into the church, both men and women 
put up an ejaculatory prayer, the former holding their hats 

. and the latter their fans before their faces. The 
Mode of wor- ■, , i • • 

ship> same ceremony is observed as soon as divine 

service is over. The prayer generally made use 
of on these occasions, is the Lord’s Prayer. When the con¬ 
gregation of the faithful are met in order to apply themselves 
to any exercise of devotion, whether it be preaching, or read¬ 
ing the scriptures only, or praying*, it is always introduced by 
the singing of some psalms or spiritual hymns suitable to the 
occasion. 

They have two sermons at least every Sunday, especially 
if it be a solemn festival, that is to say, one in the morning 
and another in the afternoon. There is a catechetical lecture 
besides, at which their probationers are always examined. 
Their burials are frequently put off likewise till Sunday, for the 
benefit of a prayer, or at least a funeral sermon, which the 
Lutherans always preach upon the decease of any of their 
members, whether young or old, rich or poor. Their texts 
are very seldom taken out of those books which the Lu¬ 
therans and the Protestants call apocryphal. The last thing 
which we shall take notice of in relation to their sermons, is, 
that of their circular predications , which is the term they 
make use of to distinguish those sermons, which their pastors 
are obliged to preach at particular times in the metropolitan 
church in presence of the superintendent, in order that he 
himself may form a just judgment of their method, and the 
progress they make in the ministerial office; also that he 
may examine their principles, and prevent them deviating 
from the orthodox faith. 


LUTHERANS. 


407 


After the sermon, the service concludes with some select 
prayers or supplications to Almighty God, thanksgivings, and 
publications. In the first, all sick persons, all women labouring 
of child, or in child-bed, all that travel by land or by water, 
all persons any way afflicted or distressed in mind, body, or 
estate, are recommended to God as proper objects of his suc¬ 
cour, comfort, and assistance. In Denmark, all those who 
are drawing near to the time appointed for the consummation 
of their marriage, are likewise recommended to God in the 
prayers of the church. In their thanksgivings, those parti¬ 
cular persons who had received great mercies, desire to return 
their grateful acknowledgments to Almighty God for the 
same. In their publications, timely notice was given of such 
matters as particularly related to the church; that is to say, 
of some extraordinary acts of devotion, such as the observance 
of an ensuing solemn festival, or fast, or the like, &c. In some 
places, the public orders of the civil magistrate are read in 
the pulpit. 

The Lutherans retain the use of the altar for the celebration 
of the Holy Communion. They likewise make use of lighted 
tapers in their churches, of incense, and a crucifix on the altar, 
of the sign of the cross, and of images, &c. Several of their 
doctors acknowledge, that such materials add a lustre and ma¬ 
jesty to divine worship, and fix at the same time the attention 
of the people. 

The Lutherans retain the observance of several solemn 
festivals after their reformation. They keep three solemn 

days of festivity at Christmas. In some Lu- Festivals 
theran countries, the people go to church on the 
night of the nativity of our blessed Saviour with lighted can¬ 
dles, or wax tapers in their hands, and the faithful, who meet 
in the church, spend the whole night there in singing, and 
saying their prayers, by the light of them. Sometimes they 
burn such a large quantity of incense, that the smoke of it 
ascends in the form of a whirlwind, and their devotees may 
properly enough be said to be wrapt up in it. It is customary 
likewise in Germany to give entertainments at such times to 
friends and relations, and to send presents to each other, espe¬ 
cially to the young people, whom they amuse with very idle 
and romantic stories, telling them, that our blessed Saviour 
descends from heaven on the night of his nativity, and brings 
with him all kind of playthings. 

They have three holidays at Easter, and three at Whitsun¬ 
tide, as well as those before mentioned at Christmas. These 
festivals have nothing peculiar in them, with respect to the 


408 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


ceremonies observed at those times; but with regard to some 
particular superstitions, they are remarkable enough: as for 
instance, that of the Paschal water, which is looked on as a 
sovereign remedy for sore eyes, and very serviceable in uniting 
broken limbs. This Paschal water is nothing more than 
common river water, taken up on Easter-day before th.e rising 
of the sun. They have another superstitious notion with re¬ 
spect to their horses : they imagine, that the swimming them 
in the river on Easter-day before the sun rises, preserves them 
from lameness. 

The other festivals observed by the Lutherans, are New- 
Year’s day, or the Circumcision, a festival not near so ancient 
as the four above-mentioned; the festival of the Three Kings, 
or otherwise, the Epiphany; the Purification of the Blessed 
Virgin, or Candlemas, and Lady-day, or the Annunciation. 
There is no public work, nor service devoted to the Blessed 
Virgin, nor are there any processions, or other ceremonies, 
which are observed by the Roman Catholics on the two latter 
festivals. The festival of the Sacred Trinity is solemnized on 
the Sunday after Whit-Sunday; that of St. John Baptist on 
the 24th of June, and that of the Visitation of the Blessed Vir¬ 
gin on the 2d of July, as it is by the Roman Catholics. To 
conclude, the festival of St. Michael the Archangel, or rather 
the ceremonies observed by the Lutherans on that day, are the 
remains only of an ancient custom, which has been preserved 
amongst them, although somewhat extraordinary, as the mem¬ 
bers of their communion retain no manner of veneration for 
angels. 

In 1523, Luther drew up a formulary of the mass and com¬ 
munion. for the particular service of the church of Wirtem- 

Liturgy. burg. Without attempting to particularize the 
various parts of it, it may be observed, that all 
the churches where Lutheranism prevailed, were obliged en¬ 
tirely to conform to it. However, those orders were never 
punctually obeyed. Some Lutheran countries have one ritual 
and some another; there is a difference, likewise, in their 
liturgies; though as to the fundamental articles, they all agree. 

On the Sunday when the communion is to be administered, 
the minister, immediately after the sermon, prays to Almighty 

Communion ^ or ti 10813 in particular who purpose to 

receive the holy communion. There is no form 
of prayer, however, for that purpose, but the minister is at free 
liberty to say what he thinks most suitable to that solemn oc 
casion. After the sermon likewise they sing a psalm, or some 
short hymn or hymns adapted to that particular act of devo- 


LUTHERANS. 


409 


tion. Whilst they are singing, those of the congregation who 
are duly prepared for the receiving of the sacrament, advance 
towards the altar, and fall down on their knees; at least so 
many of them as can with convenience approach it at once. 
As soon as the hymn is over, the minister says, Let us pray ; 
and sings at the same time the Lord’s Prayer: and when the 
congregation have said Amen, he sings the words of the insti¬ 
tution of the Lord’s Supper. In some places the whole con¬ 
gregation sing, with an audible voice, both the prayer and the 
words of the institution along with the minister, which is a 
manifest error, since the voice of the whole church, in general, 
drowns that of the celebrant, or officiating pastor. They have 
another custom, which is not, however, looked on as absolutely 
essential, and that is, to make the sign of the cross on the host, 
at the time of pronouncing these words, This is my body , and 
another on the cup, when those other words are repeated, viz. 
This is my blood , (Spc. Though these signs, after all, are only 
made in commemoration of the cross of Christ , which neither 
add nor diminish, yet, it has been observed, that should the 
minister neglect those signs, some feeble-minded persons would 
be offended at such omission, and imagine that the sacrament 
would thereby lose its sacred force and virtue. It is not only 
this sign of the cross made on the elements of bread and wine, 
that the populace lay such a stress upon as a fundamental arti¬ 
cle; but they very seldom cut a loaf, which has not the sign 
of a cross first made upon it with a knife. 

In several parts of Saxony, and indeed in some of their 
principal cities, when the minister consecrates the elements, he 
rings a little bell twice, in a very solemn manner; and in 
most Lutheran churches, the pastor, before he administers the 
sacrament, puts on his surplice, and over that a vestment with 
several crosses fastened on it, which, however, ought not to be 
confounded with the stole, worn by the Roman Catholic priests, 
as there is no manner of resemblance between them. In some 
places, the pastor, after he has read the gospel at the altar, 
throws the vestment before-mentioned over his head, and lays 
it on the table. After the creed is sung, he goes into the pul¬ 
pit, and preaches in his surplice. After the sermon is over, 
he returns to the altar, and resumes his vestment. 

We shall reckon amongst the number of the ceremonies 
still preserved amongst them, that of making use of wafers 
instead of bread at the communion, on each of which there is 
the figure or impression of a crucifix. When the communi¬ 
cant has received, he falls down on his knees before the altar 
in order to return God thanks for his spiritual refreshment: in 


410 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


several places it is customary to congratulate each other on 
that joyful occasion. Two clerks, or two young choristers, 
who attend at the altar, generally hold a white linen napkin 
before the communicants, lest either through the carelessness of 
the pastor, who administers the communion, or the communi¬ 
cant himself, some part of the host should accidently fall upon 
the ground, or any part of the wine be spilt. As soon as the 
communion is over, the pastor sings a verse or two of some 
psalm suitable to the occasion, with an Hallelujah, to which the 
choir answers with another. The pastor afterwards continues 
to read some general thanksgivings, and the congregation, 
joining with the choir, answer, Amen. 

The Lutherans never administer the sacrament to infants; 
but it is customary amongst them to carry it to those who are 
sick, or on a death bed; and this is the method 
Communion observed by them on those particular occasions, 
to the Sick. j n some places they make a kind of altar of the 
table which stands in the sick person’s room, that 
is to say, they cover it with a piece of tapestry, or clean linen 
cloth, and set two lighted candles, or wax-tapers, upon it, and 
a crucifix between them with a paten and chalice, or utensils, 
or vessels appropriated to the like service. According to the 
discipline of the Lutherans, the communion ought to be ad¬ 
ministered in the presence of some of the party’s relations and 
domestics; but if the communicant should happen to have no 
such friends nor servants near him, then some neighbours 
ought to be invited to be witnesses to the celebration of it. 
The relations or friends of the sick person, are permitted, if 
they think proper, to partake with him of that holy ordinance, 
and for that purpose, they must have notice on the previous 
night, or some few hours at least, that they may be duly pre¬ 
pared to join in that solemn act of devotion: the Lutherans 
do not only carry this their private communion to those who 
are sick or dying, but to those persons likewise who are far 
advanced in years, and incapable of attending the public wor¬ 
ship. To these persons, the minister, who gives the com¬ 
munion to them, makes a serious exhortation, which may with 
propriety be called a domestic sermon, adapted to such private 
or domestic communion. 

Confession is looked on as highly necessary and expedient 
in all places where Lutheranism prevails. And in the short 

. Lutheran catechism, there are several forms of 
ooniession. t • , 

confession for the peculiar assistance and direction 

of those who have not capacity sufficient of themselves to reflect 

and contemplate as they ought on the nature of their sins ; such. 


LUTHERANS. 


411 


for example, are those forms of confession principally intended 
for the spiritual improvement of masters and servants. In the in¬ 
troduction to these formularies, there is a discourse byway of 
dialogue between the penitent and the minister who takes'his 
confession, beginning with the following address: Reverend and 
dear Sir, I humbly beseech you to take my confession, and for the 
love of God to pronounce the pardon and remission of my sins. 
If the penitent be not conscious to himself of his being guilty of 
any of the sins particularly specified in the formularies, he 
must mention such others as his conscience shall at that time 
accuse him of. If he can think of none, which is morally im¬ 
possible, let him, says the catechism, mention no one in par¬ 
ticular, but receive the pardon and remission of his sins, on ma¬ 
king a general confession only. The same catechism informs 
us, that the confessor asks the penitent the following question, 
which beyond all doubt is introduced between the confession 
and the absolution : Do not you firmly believe, that this abso¬ 
lution pronounced by me is an absolution from God himself? 
After the penitent has answered in the affirmative, the minister 
adds, Amen, or, So be it. 

In Denmark and Sweden, their form of excommunication is 
accompanied with very severe penance. The Danish ritual 
informs us, that the party excommunicated, when 
he first appears at church, is turned out with Form of ex- 
disgrace by the clerk of the parish, in the pre- t ion. 
sence of the whole congregation. However, if 
the excommunication be of any long continuance, he is not ex¬ 
cluded from the privilege of attending public worship, and 
joining with the congregation in their sermons, and other acts 
of devotion ; but he is obliged to sit in a place appointed, and 
at some distance from them: and when the minister comes 
down from the pulpit, the clerk before-mentioned, who admits 
him, conveys him out of the church again. In regard to the 
Swedes, their form of excommunication is equally rigid and 
severe. Their discipline disclaims, in the same manner as 
that of all the other states in which Lutheranism prevails, 
every thing which has the least appearance of civil punish¬ 
ment. For according to the doctrine of the Lutherans in 
general, no minister ought to confound ecclesiastical penalties, 
that is to say, the exclusion of any of their members out of 
the congregation, and their prohibition, or withholding from 
them the holy communion, with those punishments, which 
none but the civil magistrates ought to inflict. 

The Lutherans baptize their children within a day or two 
after their birth. In case the infant should prove too weak to 


412 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


p . be carried to church, they baptize him at home, 

a P 1S ‘ at which ceremony one or two godfathers must 
always attend. The exorcism is a ceremony still practised in 
some countries. Where the infant is in apparent danger of 
death, a layman and a midwife together may baptize it. Ey 
the ecclesiastical law of Saxony, a midwife is not permitted to 
baptize a dying child, till after she has found out some man to 
assist her. Infants who are illegitimate, are not baptized in 
Denmark at the same time as those who are born in wedlock. 
When a bastard is baptized, there is no oblation made on the 
altar. As to foundlings, their birth being only precarious and 
uncertain, they are baptized at church as other children ; and 
although, when they are taken up, there be a billet, or note, to in¬ 
timate that they have been baptized, yet, they are always bapti¬ 
zed again, because a testimony of that nature is deemed at best 
but dubious. Where the infant is not in apparent danger of 
death, they never baptize it till it be entirely weaned from the 
mother’s breast. To conclude, they never baptize adult fools, 
nor lunatics, at least, till they are restored to the free exercise 
of their rational faculties, and are capable of being instructed 
in the principles of the Christian religion. In Sweden, a fa¬ 
ther is under no obligation to attend at the baptism of his 
child, at least, he is not always required to be present. All le¬ 
gitimate children are baptized before divine service begins, but 
bastards after it is over. 

There are baptismal fonts in some of the Lutheran church¬ 
es, but not in all of them in general. In several of the Saxon 
churches, an angel, with a basin in his hand, descends from 
the ceiling by a private pulley, or some other secret spring, 
and presents the basin to the minister who is to baptize th(? 
child. In other places, a table is brought out of the vestry, 
and placed before the altar with a basin upon it. 

After the preliminary questions, which are merely formal, 
the minister makes a discourse, by way of exhortation. After 
which, he exorcises the devil in the form following: Get thee 
hence, thou unclean spirit, and make room for the Holy Ghost. 
The minister, at the same time, makes the sign of the cross 
upon the infant, saying unto him, Receive the sign of the 
cross, &c. and laying his hand upon him, reads the prayers, 
and repeats the exorcism. At the very instant the child is 
baptized, the minister asks the sureties for him, If he re¬ 
nounces the devil and all his works, and if he believes in 
God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, &c. After that, he 
baptizes him by a triple aspersion, in honour of the Sacred 
Trinity. The whole ceremony concludes with a prayer of 


LUTHERANS. 413 

thanksgiving, a benediction on the child, and an exhortation 
to the sureties. 

As to the form of confirmation observed by the Lutherans, 
a virgin of twelve years of age, or a youth of fourteen, is 
deemed duly qualified to receive the Lord’s Sup- r , 
per, provided they have had a liberal education. ° n rmatlon ' 
The first time of their admission to the holy communion is 
either at Easter or Michaelmas. Their pious intention is 
published three weeks before from the pulpit, and they are ac¬ 
cordingly instructed, and examined twice a week during that 
interval, by way of preparation. Their ministers explain to 
them the duties incumbent on a communicant, and the spiritual 
benefits and advantages arising from the participation of that 
blessed sacrament. In short, they make their confession on 
Easter-Monday, and receive the communion the day following, 
sometimes in private, and sometimes in public, with the whole 
congregation. Such young communicants range themselves 
in the form of a semi-circle, by degrees, as they rise from the 
altar. After that act of devotion, the minister reads a prayer, 
and then addressing himself to the whole congregation, ac¬ 
quaints them, that those youths are ready, with an audible 
voice, to render a satisfactory account of the grounds and 
principles of the religion which they profess. He examines 
them accordingly; and after they have fully answered all his 
queries, he spends some time in a suitable exhortation: the 
congregation sing a hymn, and then the ceremony concludes 
with a proper collect, and the general benediction. 

The Lutheran discipline, with respect to matrimony, is ex¬ 
ceedingly uniform and regular. Luther composed a formu¬ 
lary at first for that ordinance, from which there Marri ce _ 
has been afterwards no very material deviation. rem0 nies. 

It begins with their bans, and in order to the 
consummation of a marriage, where there is no kwful impe¬ 
diment, the parties present themselves at church before their 
pastor, who asks the bridegroom whether they be mutually 
agreed to enter that holy state, and thereupon they join their 
right hands, and make an exchange of their respective rings. 
Then the pastor proceeds in the words, or to the purport fol¬ 
lowing. A and B being desirous to enter into the holy state 
of matrimony before all this congregation here present, I do 
hereby declare them man and wife, in the name of the Father, 
and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, &c. After that, he reads, 
or pronounces extempore at the altar, several texts of scripture, 
which are serious exhortations to those ivho are married, and 
the whole ceremony concludes with a prayer for the blessing 
3 £*' 


414 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


of God on their future endeavours. This is the form, accord¬ 
ing to Luther’s direction, and which is still observed to this 
day, so far as relates to the jurisdiction of the church in that 
particular. 

In Saxony, the mechanics, and those who may be called the 
inferior tradesmen, go to church to be married, attended by a 
long train of their friends and acquaintance, with a band of 
musicians before them. The same custom is observed, more 
or less, in several other places ; and a great degree of caprice 
and extravagance is every where blended with their nuptial 
ceremonies. In some of the northern provinces, as soon as 
the proper inquiries have been made with respect to the bride¬ 
groom, the father brings his daughter Avith an air of gravity to 
her suitor, saying to him at the same time, “ I give you my 
daughter, that she may reverence and obey you, that she may 
be your wedded wife, that she may lie with you, be the keeper 
of your keys, and be put into possession of one third of your 
money and effects.” In several states of Germany, notwith¬ 
standing it is customary for the parents of the new-married 
couple to defray the whole charges of their nuptials, yet all 
the guests who are invited thereto make presents to the bride, 
which for the most part are so valuable that the bride’s rela¬ 
tions are so far from being at any expense, that they are con¬ 
siderable gainers in the end. 

Whenever the married couple have lived in that state for 
twenty-five years together, their nuptials (at least as to the ex¬ 


ternal form) are revived ; which second 


marriage 


is called 


their silver nuptials. If the parties have cohabited for fifty 
years, they then solemnize their golden nuptials. In the ce¬ 
lebration both of the one and the other, the same gayety and 
amusements are observed as those at their first marriage. 
Persons of distinction, and those who are very rich, give me¬ 
dals to their friends at the celebration of the silver and golden 
nuptials. 

Their burials are always attended with singular testimo¬ 
nies of true piety and devotion ; and sometimes likewise with 
Funeral extraordinary pomp and magnificence. More- 
mon?es. a CeiG over > it i s customary amongst them to make a 
funeral oration over the deceased without dis¬ 
tinction, be the party rich or poor, of the highest or the mean¬ 
est extraction. After the sermon-is over an abstract of the life 
of the deceased is read in public. High encomiums are given 
of all those who have distinguished themselves by their exem¬ 
plary piety; and if any of them have led loose and profligate 
lives, they never fail to publish the misdemeanors of the dead, 


LUTHERANS. 


415 


for the benefit and amendment of their surviving friends and 
relations. It is customary, likewise, to make funeral proces- 
sions^and accompany the corpse to the grave singing all the 
time some select hymns, or dirges, suitable to the solemn oc¬ 
casion. In some places, the principal magistrates, and other 
persons of respectability in the city, are invited to those pro¬ 
cessions, especially if the deceased were a person of distinc¬ 
tion ; and those who accompany the corpse to the grave, re¬ 
ceive an acknowledgment in proportion to their quality and 
degree. 

On the day appointed for the interment of the corpse, the 
relations, friends, and acquaintance of the deceased, meet at his 
house. One or more Lutheran pastors resort likewise to the 
same place attended by a train of young scholars, sometimes 
greater and sometimes less, with their masters at the head of 
them. These youth, in the first place, sing two or three 
hymns or dirges before the door of the deceased; after which 
they march in the front of the procession; having a large 
crucifix, or at least a cross carried before them. An inferior 
clerk, or some young scholar appointed for that purpose, 
marches close by the side of the corpse with a small cross, 
which is afterwards fixed in that part of the church-yard, 
where the body was interred. The relations and friends of 
the deceased follow the corpse; the men first and the women 
after them. During the procession, the bells are generally 
tolled, out of respect and complaisance to the deceased, and se¬ 
veral hymns and other dirges are sung as they march along. 
It is customary likewise, to open the coffin at the grave, and 
to take a last farewell, a last melancholy view of their depart¬ 
ed friend, and afterwards to nail his coffin up, singing at the 
same time a short hymn suitable to the occasion. After which 
the minister reads a proper collect, and pronounces the bene¬ 
diction. In the next place, the procession enters the church, 
where there is generally a funeral sermon, either out of re¬ 
spect to the deceased, at the request of his friends, or by his 
own immediate direction. 

As soon as the corpse is let down into the grave, the minis¬ 
ter throws a small quantity of earth upon it three times suc¬ 
cessively : at the first he says, Of the dust of the ground wast 
thou born: at the second, To dust shalt thou return : and at the 
third, Out of the dust shalt thou rise again. After that, the 
bearers fill up the grave. The funeral oration is pronounced 
immediately after the interment, if the relations be willing to 
defray the expense of it, or if the deceased have left any le¬ 
gacy or devise in his will for that purpose. 


416 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES 


SEC. II.-CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 


The church of England dates its origin from the time of 
the Reformation, when Henry VIII. shook off the pope’s 
authority, and took upon himself the title of 
Origin. « Head of the Churchf as he had been pre¬ 
viously dignified by his holiness with that of “ Defender of 
the Faith.” The last of these titles, which are hereditary in 
the Crown of England, was obtained as a reward for a book 
the king had written on the Seven Sacraments against 
Luther’s book, “ Of the Captivity of Babylon.” The first 
title was an assumed one ; but soon obtained legal sanction by 
the consent of the nation at large; taken up because the pope 
refused to sanction Henry’s divorce from Queen Catherine, 
his affections having been transferred to Anne Boleyn. The 
Archbishop of Canterbury, who took upon himself to annul the 
former marriage, was solemnly condemned by the pope; and 
Henry, out of revenge, annulled his connexion with, and 
threw off his obedience to, the papal see. He became supreme 
head of the church himself, and he may be said to have been 
the founder of the church of England. Its principles, how¬ 
ever, are grounded on those of the Reformation, having, in 
many respects, a resemblance to the Lutheran tenets and 
practice. 

The religious tenets or doctrines of this church are to be 
found in the book of Homilies, consisting of short moral and 
doctrinal discourses, and in the Thirty-Nine Ar¬ 
ticles, which, with the three Creeds and Cate¬ 
chism, are inserted in the Book of Common Prayer. Con¬ 
cerning some of the doctrines professed by the church of 
England, her members are not agreed: a very great majority 
of the clergy insisting upon it that the church is not cal- 
vinistic, in regard to the doctrine of predestination, irre¬ 
sistible grace, and the final perseverance of the saints; whilst 
a very respectable and increasing portion of the clergy and 
laity maintain, with great confidence, that the 17th article 
roundly and plainly asserts the great and important doctrine 
of predestination, as taught by Calvin and the first reformers. 
The warm, not to say acrimonious, disputes which this 
difference of construction put upon the articles has occa¬ 
sioned, have tended to increase the number of dissenters. 


D octrines. 


* For a brief notice of the Episcopal Church in the United States, see 
the conclusion of this section. 


CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 


417 


Two archbishops are at the head of the English hierarchy, 
those of Canterbury and of York both style themselves primates; 
and in order to reconcile the difference, it was decided, that 
the archbishop of Canterbury should be called 
primate of all England , and the archbishop of lsn tlie ~ 
York only primate of England. The oath of su- 1 ' y 
premacy is taken by the king as head of the church, and as 
such on the day of his coronation, he puts on a surplice, a 
stole, and a dalmatic. When a bishopric becomes vacant, 
the canons of the cathedral give notice of it to the king, and 
desire his leave to choose another. His majesty, at the same 
time that he sends the conge d’elire, recommends the indivi¬ 
dual whom it is his will they should elect; and then the dean 
and chapter choose the person so named. The bishop so 
chosen is consecrated, installed, renders homage to the king, 
takes the oath, and pays the first fruits. The other preroga¬ 
tives which the king enjoys, as head of the church, are, to 
make ordinances respecting ceremonies and exterior rites, 
with the advice of the ecclesiastical commissioners, or of the 
metropolitan; to call or prorogue the convocation; and to 
enact the decrees of synods into laws. But all this still leaves 
him in the state and condition of a lay head, and the profes¬ 
sion of faith says, that the supreme governing of all the states 
of the kingdom, whether ecclesiastical or spiritual, in all causes 
whatever, belongs to him, yet so that he is not invested with 
a power to preach the word of God, or administer the sacra¬ 
ments. 

The bishop is superior to a priest, and a priest to a deacon. 
The essential office of a deacon is to see that the wants of the 
poor be supplied, to assist the priest (or minister) ordination of 
at the communion service, to bless those who Deacons, 
present themselves to be married, to baptize, to 
bury the dead, to preach, and to read to the people the holy 
scriptures, or the homilies. Their ordination consists first in 
a sermon or exhortation preached to them, which being con¬ 
cluded, the archdeacon, or whoever officiates in his stead, pre¬ 
sents them to the bishop, who inquires of the said archdeacon, 
whether he has examined them and found them deserving; 
he then directs his speech to the congregation present, both to 
know if there be any existing impediment to the election, and 
to recommend the candidates to the prayers of the congrega¬ 
tion. After some prayers and litanies, the third chapter of St. 
Paul’s first epistle to Timothy, from v. 8 to the end of that 
chapter, is read to the deacons, or chapter vi. of the Acts of the 
Apostles, from v. 2 to 8. Then they take the oath of supre- 


418 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


macy, and amongst several questions put to them, the bishop 
asks them, whether they have in them an interior call from 
the Holy Ghost to take upon them' the office of a deacon. 
The answer to this question being made in the affirmative, 
the bishop puts the New Testament into their hands, and gives 
them authority to read and preach the word of God to the 
faithful. He receives the communion himself, and gives it to 
all whom he has ordained. The whole ceremony is concluded 
with a prayer suitable to the occasion, and the blessing. 

The ordination of priests consists of prayers, exhortations, 
and imposition of hands. By the constitutions of the year 1603, 

. the time appointed for giving orders is on those 
Prlests? tl0n ° f Sundays which follow the Ember weeks during 
the service, in the cathedral or parochial churches 
where the bishops reside, in the presence of the archdeacon, 
the dean, and two prebendaries, or at least of four grave per¬ 
sons, who must be masters of arts, and have lawful power to 
preach. They are only as witnesses to the ordination, which 
belongs solely to the bishop; he alone has authority to say to 
those who are ordained, “receive the Holy Ghost;” the other 
four only pray with the bishops, and lay their hands upon the 
ordained, with this difference, that, amongst the English, as 
with the Catholics, the imposition of the bishop’s hands denotes 
his power and authority to ordain, whereas that of the wit¬ 
nesses is only a mark of their approbation and consent to their 
being admitted to the brotherhood, if that expression may be 
used. To become a priest, it is necessary to be made first a 
deacon ; but both orders may be received on one and the same 
day. After the examen, and the exhortation which is imme¬ 
diately before the communion service, the epistle is read, Acts, 
chap. xx. from v. 17 to 36, and if both orders be given on the 
same day, the 3d chap, of the first epistle to Timothy is added. 
The reading of the gospel follows, out of the last chapter of 
St. Matthew, from v. 11 to the end of that chapter; or out of 
St. John chap. xx. from v. 10 to 24. Then the veni creator is 
sung or read. The rest differs but little from the deacon’s or¬ 
dination. The congregation is desired to join in mental prayer 
for the happy success of this ceremony; silence is maintained 
for some short time; then the bishop prays aloud, and imme¬ 
diately lays his hands, and the priests then present lay theirs 
upon those who are ordained, and who are kneeling. The 
bishop uses at the same time this form, so much found fault 
with by the puritans or dissenters: “ Receive the Holy Ghost. 
Sins shall be forgiven to all those to whom you forgive them, 
&c. Be faithful dispensers of the word of God and of the sa- 


CHURCH OF EXGLAND. ' 419 

craments&c. This being said, he puts the Bible into their 
hands. 

The bishop is, under Christ, according to the doctrine of 
the church of England, the first pastor of the church. In¬ 
ferior ministers are only his deputies ; when he 
is absent, the priest may bless the people, but Ordination of 

whenever he is present at the divine service, it Archbishops 01 
belongs to him to pronounce the blessing. 

There are two archbishops, and twenty-four bishops in 
England; they enjoy the dignity of barons, and take place 
before those of the laity; so the bishop of London, being the 
first bishop, is likewise the first baron ; all are peers of the 
realm, and. sit in the House of Lords, except the bishop of the 
Isle of Man, who is named by and holds of a subject. The 
archbishops are called Your Grace, which title is also be¬ 
stowed on dukes. The bishops are styled right reverend 
fathers in God. 

At the consecration of bishops, or archbishops, the 3d chap, 
of St. Paul’s first epistle to Timothy, from v. 1 to 8, is read ; 
then some verses out of chap. x. or xxi. of St. John’s Gospel; 
the creed is said ; the bishop elected is presented by tw r o other 
bishops to the archbishop of the province, or to another bishop 
officiating for him. Right reverend father in Christ, they 
say, we present to you this pious and learned man, to be con¬ 
secrated bishop. The king’s order for his consecration is 
produced and read openly. The bishop elect takes the oath 
of supremacy, and that of obedience to his metropolitan, which 
last is omitted at the consecration of an archbishop. The 
consecrator moves the congregation to pray, saying to them,— • 
Brethren, it is written in the gospel of St. Luke, that our Sa¬ 
viour Christ continued the whole night in prayer, before he 
did choose and send forth his twelve apostles. It is written 
also in the Acts of the Apostles, that the disciples did fast and 
pray before they laid hands on Paul and Barnabas and sent 
them forth. Let us, therefore, following the example of our 
Saviour Christ and his apostles, first fall to prayer, &c. Then 
the litany is said; and after this passage, That it may please 
thee to illuminate all bishops, &c. the following prayer is in¬ 
serted : That it may please thee to bless this our brother elect¬ 
ed, and to send thy grace upon him, that he may duly execute 
the office whereunto he is called, to the edifying of thy church, 
&c. The people answer, We beseech thee to hear us, &c. 
The litanv ends with a prayer, after which the archbishop, 
sitting in" his chair, says to him that is to be consecrated, 
“Brother, forasmuch as the holy scripture and the ancient . 


420 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


canons command, that we should not he hasty in laying on 
hands, and admitting any person to government in the church 
of Christ, which he has purchased with no less price than the 
effusion of his own blood ; before I admit you to this adminis¬ 
tration, I will examine you,” &c. The question ends with a 
prayer, which is followed by the hymn of the Holy Ghost, or 
the veni creator, said or sung, at the end of which, the arch¬ 
bishop says another long prayer. Then the archbishop and 
bishops present, lay their hands upon the head of the elected 
bishop, the archbishop saying: Receive the Holy Ghost; 
and remember that thou stir up the grace of God which is 
given thee by this imposition of our hands, &c. Still keep¬ 
ing one hand on the head of the bishop elect, with the other he 
delivers him the Bible, saying, Give heed unto reading, 
exhortation, and doctrine, think upon the things contained in 
this book, &c. Be to the flock of Christ a shepherd, not a 
wolf; hold up the weak; be so merciful; so minister disci¬ 
pline, &c. Then the archbishop and the new bishops, with 
others, receive the communion : and the whole ceremony con¬ 
cludes with a prayer by way of collect to desire Almighty 
God to pour down his blessing on the new bishop. 

English bishops have their own vicars, and officials, in 
each diocess; but the officials are more known in England 
by the name of chancellors. These are the true and chief 
officials, but there are some commissioners who are often mis¬ 
taken for them. Their archdeacons, who in ancient times 
were only the first among deacons, are now in the English 
church above priests. Bishops are called reverend, arch¬ 
bishops most reverend, archdeacons venerable: common priests 
have no title bestowed upon them. The archdeacon’s chief 
function is to visit the diocess by procuration in default of the 
bishop or vicar, at least once in three years. 

The chief ornament, by which churchmen are distinguished 
from the laity, is the surplice* the minsters of the church of 
England are to put it on whenever they administer any sacra¬ 
ment, and on several other occasions, the particulars of Avhich 
we need not mention. Bishops, deans, canons in cathedral 
churches, wear a cope besides the surplice, and are to put it on 
at the communion service, administration of sacraments, or 
any other religious function, which is to be performed with 
solemnity. 

No one can be made a deacon before twenty-three, nor a 
priest before twenty-four, nor a bishop before thirty. Some 
pastors, either priests or ministers, have the title of rectors, as 
belonging to such churches, which at the Reformation, were 


CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 


421 


independent of any monastery. Others are only vicars, but 
for life. Lastly, some are barely curates, without any bene¬ 
fice, and receive their scanty salary from the rectors or 

bishops. 

The convocation of the clergy is a kind of parliament, the 
archbishops and bishops are the upper house; the lower is 
composed of the inferior clergy, viz. twenty-six deans, sixty 
archdeacons, five hundred and seventy-six canons, besides 
curates and deacons. They meet upon the concerns of the 
church, tithes, raising taxes, ecclesiastical laws, which must 
afterwards be approved by the king and parliament. They 
hold likewise national synods, which keep an exact correspon¬ 
dence in all their deliberations, and make no absolute defini¬ 
tion, but with a unanimous consent. 

The customs established in the performance of divine ser¬ 
vice, and appointed by the English liturgy, are; that all priests 
and deacons are required to say daily the morn- £)i v ; nc g er 
ing and evening prayers. The order of both v j ce 
is the same. They begin with several passa¬ 
ges of scripture, which the minister says aloud. These 
passages are followed by an exhortation to prepare for the 
general confession of sins, which is said kneeling, by the mi¬ 
nister and the whole congregation : this ceremony is as ancient 
as St. Basil, and was not then peculiar to his diocess, but uni¬ 
versally practised in the whole church. The absolution is pro¬ 
nounced by the priest standing, the people still kneeling; for 
receiving forgiveness requires a humble posture, but forgiving 
shows authority. The church of England uses three different 
forms of absolution, one in the morning and evening prayer, 
another at the visitation of the sick, and a third at the com¬ 
munion service. After the absolution, the priest and congre¬ 
gation, all kneeling, say the Lord’s prayer, which is followed 
by some responses, a psalm, some lessons out of the Old Tes¬ 
tament, as set down in the calendar at the beginning of the 
liturgy, the singing or reciting the Te Deum or Benedicite 
omnia ; another lesson out of the New Testament, a hymn, or 
a psalm ; the creed said or sung, to which the people stand ; 
the Lord’s prayer a second time; several responses, three col¬ 
lects, a prayer for the king and queen, another for the royal 
family, a third for the clergy, St. Chrysostom’s prayer, and 
the blessing. The rubric says, that the minister must stand 
when he reads the lessons, and turn himself towards the con¬ 
gregation, that he may be heard the better: this is very ra¬ 
tional, for those lessons, the decalogue, &c. are an instruction 
to the people: but when he addresses himself to God by 
36 


422 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


prayer, by saying or singing a psalm, or by confession, he 
must then turn from the people and look towards the upper 
and of the chancel, which is the chief and most reverential 
part of the church. Hymns and psalms are sung or said in 
a standing posture, as an evident token that the hearts of the 
people are raised to God with joy : the same situation is kept 
at the singing or saying the creed, to show how ready they 
are to make an open profession of their faith, to give an ac¬ 
count of it, to justify and defend it. Betwixt the creed and 
the Lord’s prayer repeated a second time, the priest says, The 
Lord be with you. The people answer, And with your spirit. 
We shall not trouble our readers with the various expositions 
of the oremus, the short litany, and the responses: but we 
cannot omit, that the collects are said to be so named because 
the priest said them when the whole assembly was met, or 
because the devotion of all the faithful was collected or joined 
to offer that prayer to God, or because the priest unites several 
petitions into one, or lastly, because it is a collection of several 
short sentences of scripture. 

The prayers, collects, and lessons, often vary, on some days, 
as Christmas, Epiphany, &c. The Athanasian creed is said 
or sung instead of that of the apostles or of Nice. Sunday morn¬ 
ing, Wednesday, and Friday, the long litany is said or sung. 
Particular prayers are said likewise on special occasions, as 
for rain, for fair weather, for a time of famine, or great dearth, 
for success in war, against popular commotions, epidemic or 
contagious distempers; every day also in ember weeks, for 
those who are to be ordained, for the parliament whilst it sits; 
which prayers are all either to obtain mercy from God, or to 
give him thanks for favours received. 

Sunday is a day which all Christians keep with great 
solemnity; but none more than the English; the gravity, de¬ 
cency, regularity, and outward devotion, which are apparent 
throughout the kingdom on that day, are worthy of commend¬ 
ation. 

The communion is one of the principal sacraments of the 
church of England, for which purpose the altar, for this name 
is often given by the members of the church of 

tio^'of Sacra- En g land to tlle communion table, ought to have 
merits. ‘ ‘ a clean white linen cloth upon it, and to stand in 
the body of the church, or in the chancel, where 
morning and evening prayers are appointed to be said. At all 
other times the said table is covered with a silk carpet, and set 
m a decent place altar-wise. The priest, standing at the 
north side of the table, says the Lord’s prayer, with a collect, 


CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 


423 


then rehearses distinctly the ten commandments, after each, 
the people kneeling, say, “ Lord have mercy on us, and incline 
our hearts to keep this law.” This is followed by a collect 
for the king, which the priest says-standing; the collect of 
the day, the epistle, and gospel, at which last the people stand, 
as they do likewise at the singing or reciting the Nicene or 
Constantinopolitan creed, which is done immediately after the 
gospel. Then the curate declares unto the people what ho¬ 
ly days and fasting days are in the week following to be 
observed; and, if occasion be, publishes the bans of matri¬ 
mony, reads briefs, citations, and excommunications, and 
nothing is proclaimed or published in the church during the 
time of divine service but by the minister; nor by him, any 
thing but what is prescribed in the rules, or enjoined by the 
king, or by the ordinary of the place. 

Then follows the sermon, which being ended, alms are taken 
for the poor, or other purposes; this is followed by prayers 
and exhortations, after which the priest stands up before the 
table, and having so ordered the bread and wine that he may 
with the more readiness and decency break the bread before 
the people, and take the cup into his hands, says the prayer of 
consecration, which begins the third part of the communion 
service; the wording of it is very remarkable, and runs thus : 
“ Hear us, O merciful Father, and grant that we, receiving these 
thy creatures of bread and wine, according to Jesus Christ’s 
holy institution, in remembrance of his death and passion, 
may be partakers of his most blessed body and blood, who in 
the same night that he was betrayed took bread, and when he 
had given thanks, he brake it, and gave it to his disciples, 
saying, take, eat, this is my body which is given for you, do 
this in remembrance of me. Likewise after supper, he took 
the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them 
saying, Drink ye all of this, for this is my blood of the 
New Testament, which is shed for you, for the remission 
of sins. Do this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of 
me.” 

The priest first receives the communion in both kinds 
himself, then proceeds to deliver the same to the bishops, 
priests, and deacons (if any be present;) and after that, to the 
people also in order into their hands, all meekly kneeling. 
They receive it in their hands, because the custom of re¬ 
ceiving it in their mouths from the priest’s hand, savours too 
much of transubstantiation. 

The priest says a prayer when he gives the bread, and 
another when the cup is given to any one. If the conse- 


424 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


crated bread or wine be exhausted before all have commu¬ 
nicated, the priest is to consecrate more. If, on the contrary, 
there remains any when all have communicated, the minister 
returns to the Lord’s table, and reverently places upon it what 
remains of the consecrated elements, covering the same with 
a clean linen cloth. Here begins the fourth and last part of 
the communion service. The Lord’s prayer is said by the 
minister, the people repeating after him every petition ; then 
follows* another form of thanksgiving, after which, “ Glory to 
be to God on high,” a hymn to which antiquity has given the 
appellation of angelical. The whole service is concluded, 
by the priest, (or bishop, if he be present,) dismissing the con¬ 
gregation with a blessing. 

The rubric says, that it is most convenient baptism should 
not be administered, but upon Sundays, and other holydays, 

„ . when the greatest number of people are assern- 

aptism. p} ec ]. we q f or t ] ie congregation there 

present may testify the receiving of them that be newly bap¬ 
tized into the number of Christ’s church ; as also because in 
the baptism of infants, every man present may be put in remem¬ 
brance of his own profession made to God in his baptism, or that 
made for them by their godfathers or godmothers. Neverthe¬ 
less (if necessity so require) children may be baptized on any 
other day. Every male child must have two godfathers and 
one godmother; and every female one godfather and two god¬ 
mothers ; who, with the children, must be ready at the font 
immediately after the last lesson of the morning, or evening 
prayer. The priest coming to the font, which is then to be 
filled with pure water, and standing there, asks the usual 
question, exhorts the people to pray, says two prayers for the 
child, reads a gospel, (Mark x. 13, and following,) explains it, 
gives God thanks, tells the godfathers and godmothers their 
duty, receives their renouncing the devil, and repeats with 
them the profession of faith; after which, and a few more 
prayers, he takes the child into his hands, desires the’ god¬ 
fathers and godmothers to name the child ; and then naming 
it after them, he sprinkles it with the water, saying, N. I bap¬ 
tize thee, &c. The ceremony ends with the minister’s signing 
the child with the cross, saying the Lord’s prayer, giving 
thanks to God, and a second charge to the godfathers and 
godmothers. 

As to the ministration of baptism to those who are of riper 
years, and able to answer for themselves; first, they are ex¬ 
amined whether they be sufficiently instructed in the princi¬ 
ples of the Christian religion; then, they are exhorted to pre- 


CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 


425 


pare themselves with prayers and fastings for the receiving of 
this holy sacrament. If they be found fit, the godfathers and 
godmothers present them at the font on the day, and at the 
time appointed. The godfathers and godmothers are not to 
answer, as they did in infant baptism, for the persons christ¬ 
ened, in quality of their, spiritual fathers or mothers; they 
rather are present as v^ftnesses only. The priest directs his 
discourse and exhortations to the persons baptized, prays for 
them, and with them ; they themselves renounce the devil and 
all his works, the vain pomp and glory of this world, with all 
covetous desires of the same, and the carnal desires of the 
flesh. They make their profession of faith; after which, and 
some few prayers said by the minister, he takes each person to 
be baptized by the right hand, and placing him conveniently 
by the font, he dips him in the water, or pours water upon 
him, saying, N. I baptize thee, &c. Then he receives them 
into the church, signs them with the cross, gives thanks to 
God, and ends with a short exhortation, first to the godfathers 
and godmothers, then to the person baptized ; recommending 
it to him to be confirmed by the bishop so soon after his bap¬ 
tism as conveniently may be, that so he may be admitted to 
the holy communion. 

In the church of England, as amongst Catholics, the bishops 
are sole ministers of the religious ceremony of confirmation. 
The short catechism, which every person is to r - .. 

learn before he is brought to be confirmed by 
the bishop, is to be seen in the book of common prayer. 
The church of England orders, that, for the instruction of 
the faithful beginners, “ The curate of every parish shall 
diligently upon Sundays and holydays, after the second les¬ 
son at evening prayer, openly in the church instruct and ex¬ 
amine so many children of his parish sent unto him, in the 
catechism. All fathers, mothers, masters, or mistresses, shall 
cause their children, servants, and apprentices, who have 
not learned their catechism, to come to the church at the time 
appointed, and obediently to hear, and be ordered by the 
curate, until such time as they have learned all that is ap¬ 
pointed for them to learn. The children who are sufficiently 
instructed, shall be brought to the bishop, and- every one shall 
have a godfather or a godmother, as a witness of their con¬ 
firmation. All being placed and standing in order before the 
bishop, he or some other minister appointed by him shall read 
what is called, the preface of Confirmation, which briefly ex¬ 
plains the nature and end of it; then he makes them renew 
and confirm the promises which were made for them by their 
36 * 


426 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


godfathers and godmothers at baptism, and prays for them, that 
they may receive the gifts of the Holy Ghost; then all of them 
kneeling in order before the bishop, he lays his hand upon the 
head of every one severally, says another prayer, the Lord : s 
prayer, and two collects, and dismisses them by giving his 
blessing. 

According to the ritual of the church of England, the bans 
of all those who are to be married, must be published in the 
church three several Sundays or holydays, in the 
arnage. ^ me 0 f clivine service, immediately before the 
sentence of the offertory. The form of asking is too well 
known to require being set down. If the persons who are to 
be married dwell in divers parishes, the bans must be asked 
in both parishes ; and the curate of the one parish shall not 
solemnize matrimony, without a certificate of the bans being 
thrice asked from the curate of the other parish. At the day 
and time appointed for the solemnization of matrimony, the 
persons to be married shall come into the body of the church, 
with their friends and neighbours, and there standing together, 
the man on the right hand, and the woman on the left, the 
priest reads an exhortation on the duty, condition, and chastity 
of a married state; then another particularly directed to the 
persons who are to be married. At which day of marriage, if 
any man do allege or declare any impediment, why they may 
not be coupled together in matrimony, by God’s law, or the 
laws of the realm, and will be bound, and sufficient sureties 
with him, to the parties, or else put in a caution (to the full 
value of such charges, as the persons to be married do hereby 
sustain) to prove his allegation ; then the solemnization must 
be deferred until such time as the truth be tried. If no impe¬ 
diment be alleged, then the curate asks their mutual consent; 
which being declared, they give their troth to each other, 
taking alternately each other by the right hand, and saying, 
“ I, N. take thee N. to be my wedded wife, (or husband,) to 
have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, 
for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to 
cherish (the wife says to love, cherish, and obey) till death us 
do part, according to God’s holy ordinance, and thereto I 
plight thee my troth.” Then they again loose their hands, 
and the man shall give unto the woman a ring, laying the 
same upon the book, with the accustomed dues to the priest 
and clerk. And the priest taking the ring, shall deliver it unto 
the man to put upon the fourth finger of the woman’s left 
hand, and the man, taught by the priest, shall say, “ With this 
ting I thee wed, with my body I thee worship,” &c. Both 



Church of England Marriage, p. 426. 



Church of England Funeral, p.428 





































































































































CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 


427 


kneel clown, tlie minister says a prayer, joins their hands to¬ 
gether, and adds a blessing ; then going to the Lord’s table, 
say or sing a psalm, which being ended, the man and the 
woman kneeling before the Lord’s table, the priest standing at 
the table, says a litany, followed by some prayers, and an 
instruction concerning the duties of man and wife, and so con¬ 
cludes. Only the rubric adds, that it is convenient the new-mar¬ 
ried persons should receive the holy communion at the time of 
their marriage, or at the first opportunity after their marriage. 

The last religious ceremony of the English liturgy is the 
burial of the dead. In the order for that service, it is noted, 
first, “ That it is not for any that die unbaptized, 
or excommunicated, or have laid violent hands of the 

upon themselves.” The priest and clerk, meet¬ 
ing the corpse at the entrance of the church-yard, and going 
before it either into the church or towards the grave, say, “ I 
am the resurrection and the life,” &c. (John, chap. xi. ver. 25,) 
with some other sentences of scripture. In the church some 
suitable psalms are read or sung, with a lesson adapted to that 
ceremony. When they are come to the grave, and are pre¬ 
paring every thing to put the body into the earth, the priest 
and his clerk say or sing, “ Man that is born of a woman,” &c. 
Earth is then cast upon the body, and some prayers are said, 
in one of which God is desired to grant “ that we, with all 
those that are departed in the true faith, may have our perfect 
consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in glory.” 

As soon as any one has breathed his last, the minister of the 
parish, and those who have in charge to visit dead bodies, must 
have notice given them; this was ordered to be 
done immediately after the great plague which ° 

raged in London in the year 1C65, that it might be 
found out if any distemper proved contagious, and proper precau¬ 
tions taken to prevent its spreading. This visit is commonly 
performed by two women ; the clerk of the parish receives 
their attestation, and an abstract of‘it is printed every week, 
by which the public are informed how many died in the week, 
of what distemper, or by what accident. An act of parlia¬ 
ment, made for the encouragement of the woollen manufac¬ 
tory, ordains that all corpses shall be buried in flannel, without 
any allowance for linen, but the flannel maybe as fine as they 
think fit. Those shrouds are either bespoken or bought ready 
made, and most linen drapers have some by them of all sizes 
and prices. The corpse being washed very clean, and shaved 
if it be that of a man, they put on it a flannel shirt, the sleeves 
of which are ruffled and plaited, with another tufted piece of 


42S 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


the same stuff which covers the opening of the shirt upon the 
breast. The shirt must be above half a foot longer than the 
corpse when extended at full length, that the feet of the decea¬ 
sed may be put into it as in a bag, which when performed it is 
tied with woollen, so as to look like a tuft. They add to this 
a cap, with a large chin-cloth tied to the cap, a cravat and gloves, 
all woollen. Some put a large quantity of bran at the bottom Oi 
the coffin. Instead of a cap the women have head-clothes with 
a forehead-cloth. Some coffins are exceedingly fine. When the 
corpse is in it, they make a second visit, to see whether it be all 
in flannel, and no linen or even thread, except woollen, employ¬ 
ed about it. The body lies so three or four days, and all that 
time is allowed to provide mourning and prepare for the funeral. 

The palls are provided by the undertakers; some of black 
velvet, some of black cloth, bordered either with white satin, or 
linen, or taffety, about a foot long. It is so large, that it covers not 
only the coffin, but likewise the men who carry it upon their 
shoulders, and still hangs low enough to be supported by the 
pall-bearers, either men or women, according to the sex of the 
person who is to be buried, and they have gloves, hat-bands, 
and sometimes scarfs, black or white, given them. When 
every thing is ready, two men, called mutes, go first, and they 
are immediately followed by the corpse and pall-bearers ; the 
chief mourners and other persons invited, two and two, close 
the procession. Generally they go into the church, in the 
middle of which, the body being placed upon two tressels, the 
service for the dead appointed for that occasion is said. If the 
body be not buried in the church, they carry it to the church-yard 
belonging to it, and put it into the ground before the whole com¬ 
pany, who seldom depart till the earth be again thrown in. 

In respect to the Episcopal Church in the United States, it 
may be briefly stated in this place, that in her rites and ceremo¬ 
nies she copies those of the mother church in 
Episcopal^ England, with those necessary variations, which 

United 1 States 6 ar * se from a different form of civil government, 
under which its members live, &c. The Eng¬ 
lish common prayer book is adopted, with the omission of the 
Athanasian creed, and some other alterations, to conform it 
to the peculiar state of the church. Subscription to the ar 
tides is not required by candidates for holy orders. The num 
ber of bishops is fifteen ; the number of their clergymen is esti 
mated at five thousand and ninety-six; and their churches a* 
nine hundred and twenty-two. The episcopal establishment in 
the United States has no archbishops, nor lord bishops, archdea 
cons, deans, prebends, canons, nor vicars. The bishops are elect 


KIRK OF SCOTLAND. 


429 


ed by the convention of the diocess. Their bishops have no 
episcopal palaces, but dwell in their own hired houses; nor 
episcopal revenues, being pastors of congregations, as are the 
other clergy, and, like them, supported by the contributions of 
those who enjoy their instructions. When they travel through 
their diocess, the churches they visit pay their expenses. The 
bishops have no patronage, nor can they, by Individual au¬ 
thority, appoint or remove any minister. No person has the 
gift of “parish” or “living;” it depends on the choice of the 
people. Some churches leave the appointment of the minister 
to the vestrymen, who are annually selected by the pew hold¬ 
ers ; others select him by the ballot of the whole congregation. 
It is entirely left to the clergymen who shall be admitted to the 
ordinances: but their discipline varies in the different states. 
This church is governed by a general convention, which sits 
once in three years, divided into an upper and lower house; 
the former is composed of the bishops of the different states, 
and the latter of a portion of the clergy and laity from the 
several diocesses. All motions may originate in either house; 
although the concurrence of the majority of both must be ob¬ 
tained before they pass into a law. 

SEC. III.-KIRK OF SCOTLAND.* 

The conversion of the Scots to the Christian faith began 
through the ministry of Paladius, about the year 430, and 
from the first establishment of Christianity in that 

•/ Historicnl 

country till the Reformation in the reign of Mary, i nc j dents# 
mother of James I. and of Mary I. of England, 
their church government was episcopacy; but the Presbyte¬ 
rian discipline was not finally established in Scotland until 
the reign of King William and Mary, A. D. 1689, when 
episcopacy was totally abolished. The Westminster Confes¬ 
sion of Faith was then received as the standard of the national 
creed ; which all ministers, and principals and professors in 
universities, are obliged to subscribe as the confession of their 
faith, before receiving induction into office. 

The church of Scotland is remarkable for its uncommon 
simplicity of worship; it possesses no liturgy, no altar, no in¬ 
strumental music, no surplice, no fixed canon- Worship.— 
ical vestment of any kind. It condemns the Ministerial 
worship paid to saints, and it observes no fes- parity, &c. 

* The word Kirk is of Saxon origin, and signifies Church ; or, ac¬ 
cording to others, it is a contraction of the Greek word, meaning the 
House of God. 


430 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


tival days. Its ministers enjoy a parity of rank and of authority ; 
it enforces that all ministers, being ambassadors of Christ, are 
equal in commission; that there is no order in the church as 
established by the Saviour, superior to presbyters; and that 
bishop and presbyter, though different words, are of the same 
import. It acknowledges no earthly head : its judicatories are 
quite distinct from, and independent of, any civil judicatory; 
insomuch, indeed, that the decisions of the one are often con¬ 
trary to those of the other, yet both remain unaffected and un¬ 
altered. When, for example, a clergyman has been present¬ 
ed to a parish by a patron, and induction and ordination have 
followed on that presentation, if afterwards it be found that 
the patron, who had given the presentation, has not that right ; 
and that it belongs to another, the clergyman may be ejected 
as to all the temporalities of the office; but quroad sacra, he 
may continue minister of the parish, and exercise all the sacred 
functions: and though a new presentee may obtain a right to 
the civil endowments of the benefice, he can perform none ot 
the sacred duties, while the other chooses to avail himself oi 
this privilege. 

There are four ecclesiastical judicatories,—namely, the Kirk 
Session, the Presbytery, the Synod, and the General Assembly, 

. from each of which there is a power of appeal 

Indicatones. tQ t } ie decision of the General As¬ 

sembly is supreme. 

The lowest court is the Kirk Session, which is composed 01 
the minister of the parish, who is the moderator or president 
• an ^ a num ber of the most grave and re- 

ir ession. S p ec t a ^q e laymen, members of the congregation. 
Their number varies in different parishes, five or six being 
about the average number; and their services are entirely 
gratuitous. They are something like church wardens in Eng¬ 
land, only they have a spiritual jurisdiction, as it is a part of 
their duty to visit the sick, &c. The Kirk Session takes cog¬ 
nizance of cases of scandal, such as fornication, sabbath break¬ 
ing, profane swearing. It also manages the funds of the poor, 
a duty in which it formerly was assisted by deacons, a class of 
men inferior to elders, as they had no spiritual jurisdiction, 
but not being found necessary, they are consequently disused. 

The Presbytery, which is the court next in dignity, is com¬ 
posed of the ministers of a certain district, with an elder from 

Presbytery. eac ^ P ar j s h- The number of presbyteries is 
seventy-eight. Their chief duty consists in the 
management of such matters as concern the church within 
their respective bounds. But they may originate any matter, 


KIRK OF SCOTLAND. 


431 


and bring it under the view of the Synod cr General Assem¬ 
bly. They have also the superintendence of education, within 
their bounds, such as the induction of teachers, and the exami 
nation of schools. 

The Synod is the next intermediate court. There are fifteen 
synods, each consisting of the clergymen of a certain num¬ 
ber of presbyteries, with elders, as in presby¬ 
teries. Presbyteries meet generally once a-month; Synod, 
synods twice a-year, though some remote synods, such as that 
of Argyle, only once. 

The General Assembly is the last and supreme court, and 
meets yearly in the month of May, in Edinburgh, and con¬ 
tinues its sitting for twelve days. The king 
presides by his representative, who is always a . 
nobleman, and is denominated the Lord High y ‘ 
Commissioner. The General Assembly is a representative 
court, consisting of 200 members, representing presbyteries, 
and 156 elders representing burghs or presbyteries, and five 
ministers or elders representing universities,—making alto¬ 
gether 361 members. They choose a moderator or president, 
out of their own number, distinct from the Royal Commis¬ 
sioner, the duty of the latter consisting merely in convening 
and dissolving the court, and in forming the medium of com¬ 
munication between it and the throne. The moderator is now 
always a clergyman, though previously to 1688 laymen 
sometimes held that office. 

The duties of the Scotch clergy are numerous and labo¬ 
rious. They officiate regularly in the public worship of God; 
and, in general, they must go through this duty jy ut ^ es 0 f the 
twice every Sunday, (exclusively of other occa- Scotch clergy, 
sional appearances,) delivering every Sunday a 
lecture , and a sermon , with prayers. It is also expected, 
throughout Scotland, that the prayers and discourses shall be 
of the minister’s own composition; and the prayers, in all 
cases, and the discourses in most instances, are delivered with¬ 
out the use of papers. They are expected to perform the al¬ 
ternate duties of examining their people from the scriptures 
and catechisms of the church, and of visiting them from house 
to house, with prayers and exhortations. This is done com¬ 
monly once in the year, being omitted only in those cases in 
which the ministers deem it impracticable, or not acceptable, 
or at least not necessary.—The charge of the poor devolves, 
in a very particular manner, on the clergy, and in them also is 
vested the superintendence of all schools within their bounds. 

Baptism in this church is practised by none but ministers, 



432 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


. who do it by sprinkling; and whether performed 

dptism. j n p r ] va t e or public, it is almost always pre¬ 
ceded by a sermon. 

The Lord’s Supper is not administered so frequently in 
Scotland as in some other places. Some time before this takes 
place, it is announced from the pulpit. The week 
per 0IX S U * 5 before, the kirk sessions meets, and draws up a 
list of all the communicants in the parish, ac¬ 
cording to the minister’s examination-book, and the testimony 
of the elders and deacons. According to this list, tickets are 
delivered to each communicant, if desired, and the ministers 
and elders also give tickets to strangers who bring sufficient 
testimonials. None are allowed to communicate without such 
tickets, which are produced at the table. Those who never 
received, are instructed by the minister, and by themselves, in 
the nature of the sacraments, and taught what is the proper 
preparation thereunto. The Wednesday or Thursday before 
there is a solemn fast, and on the Saturday there are two pre¬ 
paratory sermons. On Sunday morning, after singing and 
prayer as usual, the minister of the parish preaches a suitable 
sermon; and when the ordinary worship is ended, he in the 
name of Jesus Christ forbids the unworthy to approach, and 
invites the penitent to come and receive the sacrament. Then 
he goes into the body of the church, where one or two tables, 
according to its width, are placed, reaching from one end to 
the other, covered with a white linen cloth, and seats on both 
sides for the communicants. The minister places himself at 
the end or middle of the table. After a short discourse, he 
reads the institution, and blesses the elements : then he breaks 
the bread, and distributes it and the wine to those that are next 
him, who transmit them to their neighbours; the elders and 
deacons attending to serve, and see that the whole is perform¬ 
ed with decency and order. Whilst these communicate, the 
minister discourses on the nature of the sacrament; and 
the whole is concluded with singing and prayer. The minis¬ 
ter then returns to the pulpit, and preaches a sermon. The 
morning-service ended, the congregation are dismissed for an 
hour; after which the usual afternoon worship is performed. 
On the Monday morning, there is public worship with two 
sermons; and these, properly speaking, close the communion- 
service. No private communions are allowed in Scotland. 

Marriage is solemnized nearly after the manner of the 
church of England, with the exception of the ring, which is 
Marriage. deemed a great relic of “ popery.” By the laws 
of Scotland, the marriage-knot may be tied with- 


IvIRK OF SCOTLAND. 


433 


out any ceremony of a religious nature: a simple promise in 
the presence of witnesses, or a known previous co-habitation, 
being sufficient to bind the obligation. That most ridiculous, 
often immoral, and almost always injurious practice, of mar¬ 
rying at Gretna-Green , is still in use, where a blacksmith 
performs the ceremony according to the rites of the church! 

The Funeral ceremony is performed in total silence. The 
corpse is carried to the grave and there interred without a 
word being spoken on the occasion. 

Dr. Evans, in his usual liberal strain, gives the following 
account of the Seceders. 

“ Dissenters from the kirk, or church of Scotland, call them¬ 
selves Seceders; for, as the term Dissenter comes from the 
Latin word dissentio, to differ, so the appellation g ecet j ers 
Seceder is derived from another Latin word, scce- 
do, to separate or to withdraw from any body of men with 
which we may have been united. The secession arose from 
various circumstances, which were conceived to be great de¬ 
fections from the established church of Scotland. The Sece¬ 
ders are rigid Calvinists, rather austere in their manners, and 
severe in their discipline. Through a difference as to civil 
matters, they are broken down into Burghers and Anti- 
burghers. Of these two classes the latter are the most con¬ 
fined in their sentiments, and associate therefore the least with 
any other body of Christians. The Seceders originated under 
two brothers, Ralph and Ebenezer Erskine, of Sterling, about 
the year 1730. It is worthy of observation, that the Rev. 
George Whitefield, in one of his visits to Scotland, was solemnly 
reprobated by the Seceders, because he refused to confine his 
itinerant labours wholly to them. The reason assigned for 
this monopolization was, that they were exclusively God's 
people ! Mr. Whitefield smartly replied, that they had, there¬ 
fore, the less need of his services, for his aim was to turn sin¬ 
ners from the error and wickedness of their ways, by preach¬ 
ing among them glad tidings of great joy ! 

“ The Burgess’ oath, concerning which the Seceders differed, 
is administered in several of the royal boroughs of Scotland, 
and runs thus: ‘ I protest before God and your lordships, that 
I profess and allow with my heart the true religion presently 
professed within this realm, and authorized by the laws there¬ 
of; I shall abide thereat and defend the same to my life’s end, 
renouncing the Roman religion called papistry.’ The Messrs. 
Erskine and others maintained there was no inconsistency in 
Seceders taking this oath, because the established religion was 
still the true religion, in spite of the faults attaching to it, and 
37 


434 


rROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


hence were called Burghers. Messrs. Moncrieffj and others, 
thought the swearing to the religion as professed and autho¬ 
rized was approving the corruptions, therefore the oath was 
inconsistent and not to be taken ; hence anti-burghers. The 
kirk of Scotland, both parties say, still perseveres in a 
course of defection from her professed principles, and there¬ 
fore the secession continues, and is increasing to the present 
day. (See an Historical account of the Rise and Progress of 
the Secession, by the late Rev. John Brown, of Haddington.) 
The Seceders are strict Presbyterians, having their respective 
associate synods, and are to be found not only in Scotland, but 
also in Ireland and in the United States of America. Both 
classes have had amongst them ministers of considerable learn¬ 
ing and piety. 

“ There is also a species of Dissenters from the church of 
Scotland called Relief whose only difference from the Kirk 
is, the choosing of their own pastors. They arose in 1752, 
and are respectable as to numbers and ability. (See a Com¬ 
pendious View of the Religious System maintained by the 
Synod of Relief, by P. Hutchinson; and also Historical 
Sketches of the Relief Church, &c. by J. Smith.) The Relief 
are Calvinists as well as Presbyterians, but liberal in their 
views, admitting to their communion pious Christians of every 
denomination. They revere the union of faith and charity.”* 

SEC. IV.-ENGLISH AND AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANS. 

The appellation Presbyterian is in England appropriated 
to a large denomination of dissenters, who have no attachment 

_. . . , to the Scotch mode of church government, anv 

i no . character- more than to episcopacy amongst us, and there- 
istics of the fore to this body of Christians the term Presby- 
English Pres- terian in its original sense is improperly applied, 
byterians. This misapplication has occasioned many wrong 
notions, and should be rectified. English Presbyterians, as 
they are called, adopt nearly the same mode of church govern¬ 
ment with the Independents. Their chief difference from the 
Independents is, that they are less attached to Calvinism, and 
consequently admit a greater latitude of religious sentiment. 
It may be added, that their mode of admitting members into 
communion differs from that commonly practised among the 
Presbyterians. 

Dr. Doddridge in his “ Lectures” has this paragraph on the 


* See Dr. Evans’s Sketches. 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


435 


subject: “ Those who hold every pastor to be as a bishop or 
overseer of his own congregation, so that no other person or 
body of men have by divine institution a power to exercise any 
superior or pastoral office in it, may, properly speaking, be 
called (so far at least) congregational; and it is by a vulgar 
mistake that any such are called Presbyterians: for the Pres¬ 
byterian discipline is exercised by synods and assemblies, sub¬ 
ordinate to each other, and all of them subject to the authority 
of what is commonly called a General Assembly.' 1 ' 1 

The Presbyterian Church in the United States was origi¬ 
nally made up of emigrants from Scotland and the north of 
Ireland. They settled principally in Pennsylva- . 

*/ a ji j j A iYiPT*ipn n 

nia, West Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. In p res byterians 
1704, the first Presbyterian judicatory in the 
United States was constituted under the name of the “ Presby¬ 
tery of Philadelphia.” In 1716 the members of this commu¬ 
nity had so much increased, chiefly, however, by emigration 
from Europe, that they distributed themselves into four Pres¬ 
byteries, bearing the names of Philadelphia, Newcastle, Snow 
Hill, and Long Island, and erected a synod under the name 
of the “Synod of Philadelphia.” But the body was far from 
proving harmonious, by reason of the different views enter¬ 
tained on the subject of the discipline of the churches. The 
controversies in this connexion continued to increase until 
1758, when all difficulties were healed, from which time har¬ 
mony, with some few exceptions, has prevailed, and their cause 
rapidly gains strength. 

In 1789, the first General Assembly, which is now the high¬ 
est judicatory of the Presbyterian church in the United States, 
was convened at Philadelphia, which has con- ^ ^ 

tinued to be the place of its annual meeting to sem biy. 
the present time. Great prosperity has attended 
the cause of Presbyterianism in the United States. Within a 
few years, however, differences have, to some extent, prevailed 
among the ministers of this connexion ; but as among so able 
and pious a body of men, the principles of the gospel are 
justly expected to exert their legitimate influence, it can sub¬ 
serve no benefit to record the grounds of a dissension, which 
it is hoped will be only temporary. The advocates of Pres¬ 
byterianism reside chiefly in the middle, southern, and western 
states. The clergy attached to the order, are an able, enlight¬ 
ened, evangelical, and pious body, and their labours have been 
signally blessed. The number of synods in 1832, was twenty- 


* Evans’s Sketches. 


43G 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


one; that of presbyteries, one hundred and ten; the clergy 
are estimated at one thousand nine hundred and thirty-five; 
the churches under the care of the general assembly, are two 
thousand two hundred and eighty-one, comprising more than 
two hundred and seventeen thousand three hundred and forty- 
eight members. 

The doctrines of the Presbyterian church of the United 
States are Calvinistic, as may be seen in the confession of 
faith as revised by the General Assembly at their 
octanes. sess ] on in Philadelphia, in 1821 ; though the 
clergy, when composing instructions either for their res¬ 
pective parishes, or the public at large, are no more fettered by 
the confession, than are the clergy of the church of England 
by the thirty-nine articles. 

In respect to their religious services, it is necessary only to 
say, that in Great Britain, Ireland, and America, they have 
laid aside the use of certain forms of prayer, and 

Servjc^° US USe extem P orar y prayer in the worship of God. 

They also differ from Episcopalians in this, that 
while the latter kneel in time of prayer, the former stand ; 
and in singing the praise of God they all sit, while all Epis¬ 
copalians stand. 


SEC. V.-CALVINISTS. 

Calvinists are those professing Christians, who adopt, 
without a strict uniformity however, the doctrine and disci- 
Af pline of the scriptures, as explained by Calvin, 

called! W 10m John Calvin was born at Noyon, in France, in 
the year 1509. In early life, he applied him¬ 
self to the study of the civil law, and becoming impressed 
with the importance of religion, and the necessity of a reform¬ 
ation in respect to errors prevalent at that time, especially 
in the Church of Rome, he devoted himself to divinity, and, 
at length, became professor of divinity, in the year 1536. 

The general doctrines taught by the Calvinists of the pre¬ 
sent day, are embraced by such a multiplicity of sects, going 
under that and other names, that a summary only can be 
given of them in this chapter. 

At first, the name of Calvinists was given to those who em¬ 
braced not merely the doctrine, but the church-government 
and discipline established at Geneva, where Calvin was 
minister and professor of divinity, and was intended to dis¬ 
tinguish them from the Lutherans. But since the meeting 
of the synod of Dort, this appellation has been applied 


CALVINISTS. 


437 


chiefly to those who embrace his leading views of the gospel, 
and is intended to distinguish them from the Arminians. 

The leading principles of Calvin were the same as those 
of Augustin. The principal doctrines, by which those called 
Calvinists are distinguished from the Arminians, are reduced 
to five articles, which, from their being the chief points dis¬ 
cussed at the synod of Dort, have since been denominated 
the Jive 'points. These are predestination, particular re¬ 
demption, total depravity, effectual calling, and the certain per¬ 
severance of the saints. 

1. The Calvinists maintain, that God hath chosen unto 
eternal glory a certain number of the fallen race of Adam in 
Christ, before the foundation of the world, according to his 
immutable purpose, and of his free grace and love, without 
the least foresight of faith, good works, or any conditions per¬ 
formed by the creature; and that he was pleased to pass by, 
and ordain to dishonour and wrath, the rest of mankind, for 
their sins, to the praise of his vindictive justice. 

A few passages usually adduced in support of the above 
doctrine may with propriety be introduced in this place:—Ac¬ 
cording as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of 
the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before 
him in love. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on 
whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on 
whom I will have compassion. So, then it is not of him that 
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth 
mercy. Thou wilt sajr, then, why doth he yet find fault; for 
who hath resisted his will? Nay, but O man ! who art thou 
that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him 
that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the 
potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one 
vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour ? Hath God 
cast away his people whom he foreknew? Wot ye not what 
the scripture saith of Elias ? Even so at this present time 
also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 
And if by gTace, then it is no more of works. What then ? 
Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the 
election hath obtained it, and the rest are blinded. Whom 
he did predestinate, them he also ' called. We give thanks to 
God always for you brethren, beloved of the Lord, because 
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through 
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. As many 
as were ordained to eternal life believed. Eph. i. 4. Rom. 
ix. 15—22; xi. 1—5 ; viii. 29, 30. 2 Thes. ii. 13. Acts xii. 

The Calvinists, however do not consider predestination as 
37* 


433 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


affecting the agency or accountableness of the creature, or as 
being to him any rule of conduct. On the contrary, they 
suppose him to act as freely, and to be as much the proper 
subject of calls, warnings, exhortations, promises, and threat- 
enings, as if no decree existed. 

2. They maintain, that though the death of Christ be a 
most perfect sacrifice, and satisfaction for sins, of infinite value, 
and abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole 
world ; and though on this ground the gospel is to be preached 
to all mankind indiscriminately; yet it was the will of God, 
that Christ, by the blood of the cross, should efficaciously 
redeem all those, and those only, who, from eternity, were 
elected to salvation, and given to him by the Father. 

The following passages among others are alleged in proof 
of the above doctrine :—Thou hast given him power over all 
flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast 
given him. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 
I lay down my life for the sheep. He died not for that nation 
only, but that he might gather together in one the children of 
God that arc scattered abroad. He gave himself for us, that 
he might redeem us from all iniquity , and purify unto him¬ 
self a peculiar people , zealous of good works. He loved the 
church , and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and 
cleanse it, and present it to himself, &c. And they sang a 
new song, saying, Thou art worthy; for thou wast slain, and 
hast redeemed us to God by thy blood , out of every kindred, and 
tongue, and people, and nation. John xvii. 2 ; x. 11, 15; xi. 
52. Tit. ii. 14. Eph. v. 25—27. Rev. v. 9. 

3. The Calvinists maintain, that mankind are totally de¬ 
praved, in consequence of the fail of the first man, the sin of 
whom, as their public head, involved the corruption of all his 
posterity; and that this corruption extends over the whole soul, 
and renders it unable to turn to God, or to do any thing truly 
good, and exposes it to his righteous displeasure, both in this 
world and in that which is to come. 

This is supported as follows :—By one man sin entered into 
the world, and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, 
for that all have sinned. By one man’s disobedience many 
were made sinners. I was born in sin and shapen in iniquity. 
God saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, 
and that every imagination of his heart was only evil conti¬ 
nually. God looked down from heaven upon the children of 
men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did 
seek God. Every one of them is gone back ; they are alto¬ 
gether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not 


CALVINISTS. 


439 


one. And you hath he quickened who were dead in tres¬ 
passes and sins. Wherein in time past ye walked according 
to the course of this world, among whom also we all had our 
conversation in times past, in the lust of our jlesli , fulfilling 
the desires of the flesh and the mind ; and were by nature the 
children of wrath even as others. Rom. v. 12—19. Ps. li. 
5. Gen. vi. 5. Ps. liii. 2, 3. Rom. iii. Eph. ii. 1—3. 

4. The Calvinists maintain, that all whom God hath pre¬ 
destinated unto life, he is pleased, in his appointed time, effect¬ 
ually to call by his word and spirit out of that state of sin and 
death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by 
Jesus Christ. 

They admit that the Holy Spirit, as calling men by the 
ministry of the gospel, may be resisted, and that where this is 
the case, the fault is not in the gospel, nor in Christ offered by 
the gospel, nor in God calling by the gospel, and also confer¬ 
ring various gifts upon them, but in those who are called. 
Yet, they contend, that when men are converted, it is not to 
be ascribed to themselves, as though by their own free-will 
they made themselves to differ, but merely to him who de¬ 
livers them from the power of darkness, and translates them 
into the kingdom of his dear Son, and whose regenerating in¬ 
fluence is certain and efficacious. 

The following passages are supposed to support this doctrine : 
Whom he did predestinate, them he also called ; and whom he 
called, them he also glorified. That ye may know what is 
the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, 
according to the working of his mighty power, which he 
wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead. Not 
of works lest any man should boast. For we are his work¬ 
manship , created in Christ Jesus unto good works. God, that 
commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined 
in our hearts, &c. I will take away the stony heart out of 
their flesh, and will give them hearts of flesh. Rom. viii. 29. 
Eph. i. 19, 20; ii. 9, 10. 2 Cor. iv. 6. Ezek. xxxvi. 26. 

5. Lastly, the Calvinists maintain, that those whom God 
has effectually called and sanctified by'his spirit, shall never 
finally fall from a state of grace. They admit that true be¬ 
lievers may fall partially, and would fall totally and finally, 
unless it were for the mercy and faithfulness of God, who 
keepeth the feet of his saints; that he who bestoweth the grace 
of perseverance, bestoweth it by means of reading and hearing 
the word, of meditations, exhortations, threatenings, and pro¬ 
mises ; but that none of these things imply the possibility of a 
believer’s falling from a state of justification. 


440 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


Among oilier passages, the following are urged in proof of 
the preceding sentiments:—I will put my fear in their hearts, 
and they shall not depart from me. He that believeth and is 
baptized, shall he saved. The water that I shall give him shall 
be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 
This is the Father’s will, that of all which he hath given me 
I should lose nothing. This is life eternal , to know thee, the 
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Who¬ 
soever is born of God doth not commit sin, because he is 
born of God. They went out from us, but they were not of 
us j for if they had been of us, they would have continued 
with us; but they went out, that they might be manifest that 
they were not all of us. Now unto him that is able to keep 
you from falling, and to present you faultless before the pre¬ 
sence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God 
our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both 
now and ever, Amen. Jer. xxxii. 40. Mark xvi. 16. John 
iv. 14 ; vi. 39 ; xvii. 3. 1 John iii. 9 ; ii. 19. Jude, 24, 25. 

Calvinists, those who strictly adhere to the opinions of 
Calvin, reject all ceremonies; since the shadows, as they say, 

. are all passed away, the observance of them 
matiorTof S ce- ou §;h t now to be laid aside amongst Christians, 
remonies. They, moreover, reject all subordination in the 
conduct of their ecclesiastical affairs, by decla¬ 
ring, that all the true pastors, wheresoever situated, have the 
same authority, and an equal power, under one Head, that is to 
say, their Lord and master Jesus Christ. As to the sacrament 
of the Lord’s Supper, the confession explains their notion in 
the following terms. For the better maintenance and support 
of that spiritual life, which is peculiar to the saints, God has 
sent them down from heaven the bread of life, that is to say, 
his son Jesus Christ, who keeps up and maintains the spiritual 
life of his peculiar people, being eaten by them, that is to say, 
administered and received with faith and understanding:. 
Christ, in order to rej resent to us that spiritual and heavenly 
bread, has instituted and appointed earthly and visible food for 
our use, which is the sacrament of his precious body and 
blood. And in order to convince us, that as we truly and 
really take, and hold that blessed sacrament in our hands, and 
put it afterwards into our mouths, by virtue whereof our natu¬ 
ral lives are supported; so likewise we really and truly, by 
faith (which is both the hands and mouths of our souls) receive 
the true and real body and blood of Christ in our souls, for 
our spiritual subsistence, &c. In another place is introduced 
the following passage. We do not come short of the point, in 


CALVINISTS. 


441 


saying, that what is therein eaten, is the proper and natural 
body of Christ, and what is drank is his proper blood, but the 
mode or manner in which we eat it, is not in our mouths, but 
rather in our hearts by faith. Besides, notwithstanding’ the 
sacraments are united to the thing signified; yet they are not 
at all times so received by all Christians in general. The 
wicked and unworthy communicant receives the sacrament to 
his condemnation, but does not really and truly receive it. 

The true Calvinistic churches are governed- by several 
consistories, that is to say, the whole body (the pastors, elders, 
and deacons) of a church. The ministers are r 
always the presidents of these consistories. For- 0-veinment - 
merly there were not only national but provincial synods held 
in France. Their classis, otherwise called conferences, were 
subordinate to and dependent on the latter. Those classis 
were particular assemblies of part of the churches belonging 
to a province, which met sometimes half-yearly, and sometimes 
quarterly upon emergent occasions. At these classis or con¬ 
ferences, one or two ministers with an elder belonging to each 
church met, in order to settle and adjust such matters as the 
consistory had left undecided; but in case they could not 
agree, the affairs in debate were referred to the provincial 
synod, or to the national synod, in cases of moment and im¬ 
portance. From this short account it is evident, that the au¬ 
thority of those classis was always subordinate to the synods, 
as their consistories were to the classis. The power of their 
consistories extended no farther than to an ecclesiastical cen¬ 
sure, that is to say, to a friendly admonition with respect to 
any irregularities or abuses, which might possibly have crept 
into some particular churches, and of some misdemeanors of 
which the members might possibly be found guilty. The 
laws of the United Provinces with respect to their classis are 
somewhat different from those of the French churches. They 
order, that their classis shall sit, and adjust those affairs which 
the synod had left unsettled, or some others, which accidentally 
intervened between the convention of the two synods; such, 
for instance, as that of the call of a candidate to the ministry. 
The synod has the sole right and privilege to constitute and 
appoint those classis; at least no affairs, however emergent, 
can justify the convention of them without their express orders. 
Moreover, the synodal church, that is to say, that particular 
church which is empowered to send deputies to the synod, has 
a right and privilege to write circular letters to five or six other 
churches, particularly those which are situate in the parts ad¬ 
jacent, in order to procure, by a plurality of votes, a license or 


442 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


permission to convene a class. Such notice in writing as 
aforesaid must be sent to those churches fifteen days before 
such intended convention of a class ; and each church is 
obliged to send a pastor and an elder, and if possible, the very 
same deputies who assisted at the last synod. 

Each synod has a president, or moderator, and a clerk or 
two, belonging to it. The peculiar province of the moderator, 
according to their discipline, is to manage and 
Synod. adjust every case that comes before him, to give 
notice of the several places, days, and particular hours ap¬ 
pointed for the sessions of the synod, to move and open the 
matters in debate, to collect the votes of each individual mem¬ 
ber, to see that each speaks in his proper turn, and to prevent 
confusion, to make remonstrances, and to preside at their eccle¬ 
siastical censures, &c. To those employments, or offices of 
moderator and secretary, which expire with the synod, we 
must add that of the actuary. He is obliged to attend with a 
chest at each synod, in which the archives of it are always 
deposited. He holds his post but for three years; after that, it 
falls to another church: the actuary, however, is accountable 
to the synod itself, and not to his successor, for the several 
books entrusted to his care during the time of his service. 

The consistory has the sole right of electing their elders 
and deacons. After they have once elected them, their names 
are declared publicly before the whole congrega- 
Elders and t j on on th ree Sundays successively, for their con¬ 
sent and approbation. On the third Sunday, in 
case there be no objection made to their election, they are duly 
admitted in the presence of the whole church. The form of 
their reception consists in an exhortation, not only directed to 
them in particular, but to all the assembly in general. That 
exhortation is accompanied with a particular prayer. The 
office or function of the elders, according to the discipline of 
the Protestant churches in France, consists in being jointly 
watchful with the pastors over their flock, in taking care that 
the several members of the church duly attend the public wor¬ 
ship of God ; in reporting all manner of misdemeanors, and 
taking cognizance o.f them in conjunction with the pastors. 
The discipline of the Netherlands adds, that it is their duty to 
have an eye over the pastors themselves, and the deacons, to 
pay the pastoral visit either before, or after the administration 
of the Lord’s Supper, to comfort those who are in distress, and 
to instruct the ignorant, to prevent the blessed sacraments from 
being profaned, and to maintain and establish orthodoxy in the 
church. And, consequently, it may very reasonably be con- 



CALVINISTS. 


443 


eluded, that the office of those lay-ministers of the church is 
very difficult to be duly and faithfully discharged. The office 
of their deacons is to distribute the charities of well-disposed 
persons amongst their poor ; to visit, and take care of them ; 
to improve the little stock allotted for their support and main¬ 
tenance to the best advantage, and to take care that such bene¬ 
factions be not abused. Another branch of the duty of these 
lay-ministers of the Protestant churches is, to go to the seve¬ 
ral houses of their respective congregations, each of them at¬ 
tended by an elder, to acquaint them with the time appointed 
for the administration of the Lord’s Supper ; this custom, how¬ 
ever, is not universal, any more than that other, of distributing 
from house to house small leaden tickets to such of their seve¬ 
ral congregations as are duly qualified to receive the holy 
communion. Their deacons are elected and installed much 
after the same manner as their elders. Neither of these offi¬ 
ces are for life. In the United Provinces, the ministry, or ac¬ 
cording to the Walloon term, the office of an elder and deacon 
subsists but two years; after which they resign, and others 
supply their place. The discipline of the Protestant churches 
ordered and directed, that a too frequent change of elders and 
deacons should be avoided, as being very disadvantageous to 
the church. 

The simplicity, of those ceremonies which are observed by 
the Protestants in the celebration of their two sacraments will 
not admit of a long description. The baptism of „ 
an infant is preceded by the reading of a formu- acramen s - 
lary, or office of baptism, and a prayer; after which the minister, 
addressing himself to the godfathersand godmothers, asks them 
in direct terms whether they assent to what the dignity of a sa¬ 
crament requires of a true Christian, and which is unfortunately 
reduced, in almost all communities, to nothing more than a 
mere ceremony. According to the Protestants, the sacrament 
of baptism ought always to be administered in public, that is 
to say, according to the terms made use of in the discipline of 
the Protestant churches in France, in ecclesiastical assemblies, 
where there is a church duly prepared, and set in order for 
that purpose. If an exception to the general rule be admitted, 
it is only when the saints reside amongst infidels, or when 
any imminent danger, or actual persecution, obstructs their as¬ 
sembling together, or some other emergent occasion of the like 
nature. This rule is for the most part observed in all the Pro¬ 
testant churches. 

The Lord’s Supper, or holy communion, bears a very near 
affinity, in all respects, to that form or solemnity observed by 


444 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


T the Protestants in France. Several deacons and 

or s upper e |j erg stan( j w ith.in reach of the table, where the 

sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is administered: the elders 
to- take care that a due decorum be preserved, suitable to the 
dignity of that mysterious ceremony ; the deacons to cut the 
bread in small pieces, which the minister distributes amongst 
the communicants, and to fill the cup, which he likewise ad¬ 
ministers to them after the same manner. In some other pla¬ 
ces, as at Geneva, and in Switzerland, they do not seat them¬ 
selves round a table, in which particular some pretend the 
primitive Protestants endeavoured to imitate the last supper 
which our blessed Lord ate with his apostles. They there 
present themselves before two ministers: one administer to 
the communicants the mystical and emblematic piece of bread, 
the other the cup, or a common glass, with a small quantity 
of wine in it. In case the communicant has a natural aver¬ 
sion to wine, the discipline of the churches in France indul¬ 
ges the communicant, and orders the bread only to be admi¬ 
nistered to him. In order to be duly qualified for receiving 
the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, the party must have 
attained to the years of discretion. In some countries they 
publish the names of their young catechumens. Before they 
presume to approach the Lord’s table, they must at least be ex¬ 
amined before the consistory. There is a peculiar form for 
the administration of the holy communion, which begins with a 
discourse on the institution, the nature of it, and the duties 
incumbent on all those who partake of the blessed sacrament. 
After that introductory discourse, the communicants repair to 
the place where they are to receive the Lord’s Supper, the 
men first, and the women afterwards ; and during the celebra¬ 
tion of the sacrament, the reader, who at the same time is like¬ 
wise the principal chorister, reads alternately several chapters 
out of the sacred scriptures, and sings several psalms. This 
chanter is always a layman, sometimes a mechanic, and at 
most but a school-master. At Geneva, and several other pla¬ 
ces where the Protestant religion prevails, those who are can¬ 
didates for the ministry, execute that office. The communion 
service concludes with a prayer, and an exhortation sometimes 
longer and sometimes shorter, as a minister thinks most con¬ 
venient, together with the anthem of St. Simeon. 

The solemn observance of the Lord’s Day consists in three 
sermons regularly preached every Sunday by three several 

Service on ministers. Before the sermon begins, the chant- 
Lord’s Day. er before-mentioned reads some portion of the 
sacred scriptures, and sings two or three psalms. 


ARMINIANS. 


445 


After that, the minister mounts the pulpit, sets another psalm, 
and then delivers a prayer of his own composing. As 
soon as he has done, he opens his Bible, and reads the 
text which he proposes to explain and improve. The ser¬ 
mon having lasted an hour, and sometimes much longer, the 
minister who delivered it, makes another extempore prayer; 
but before he begins, recommends all those who are any ways 
afflicted in mind, body, or estate, &c. to the prayers of the 
whole congregation. That being ended, another psalm is 
sung, and then the minister dismisses his audience with a 
general benediction. 

SEC. VI.-ARMINIANS. 


Arminianism, strictly speaking, is that system of religious 
doctrine, which was taught by Arminius, professor of divinity 
in the university of Leyden, who was born in 
Ondewater, in Holland, in the year 1560. He Origin, 
originally embraced the doctrines of Calvin, but being request¬ 
ed by Martin Lydius, professor of Franeker, to reply to a 
work on predestination, which presented that doctrine in an 
unscriptural view, as was supposed by Lydius, and other Cal¬ 
vinists, Arminius became a convert to the doctrine he had 
undertaken to refute, and even carried it farther than those by 
whom it had been maintained. He condemned the notion of 
absolute decrees, and particular election, as unscriptural, irra¬ 
tional, and dangerous; and held, that Christ died, not for a se¬ 
lect number, but for all men without exception ; and that none 
have been chosen to eternal life, except those who God fore¬ 
saw would believe and obey the gospel. This change in the 
sentiments of Arminius, which took place in 1591, gave great 
offence, as might have been expected, to the followers of Cal¬ 
vin, who regarded him not merely as a broacher of erroneous 
opinions, but as an apostate from that system, in which he had 
been strictly educated, and which he was bound, by many con¬ 
siderations, to defend. 

Arminius died in 1609. During the century which followed 
that event, disputes ran very high in Holland between the Cal¬ 
vinists and the Arminians. On each side talents Q ontrov 
and learning were displayed; but some called in s i es °with The 
the interference of the civil power; and thus Calvinists, 
terminated a controversy, which for some years 
had agitated the religious world. For this purpose the 
famous synod of Dort was held, 1618, where the Arminians 
were scandalously treated. Mosheim is of opinion, that even 
38 


446 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


before the meeting of the synod, it was agreed upon, that, on 
account of their religious opinions, they should be deemed 
enemies of their country, and accordingly be exposed to every 
species of persecution. A curious narrative of its proceedings 
may be seen in the series of letters written by the ever me¬ 
morable John Hales, who was present on the occasion. This 
synod was succeeded by a severe persecution of the Armini- 
ans. The respectable Barnevelt lost his head on a scaffold, 
and the learned Grotius, condemned to perpetual imprison¬ 
ment, escaped from his cell, and took refuge in France. The 
storm some time after abated ; and Episcopius, an Arminian 
minister, opened a seminary in Amsterdam, which produced 
able divines, and excellent scholars. 

After the synod of Dort, Arminianism made great progress 
among the reformed, in various parts of the continent, as well 
as in the United Provinces. Many of the pro- 
t Progress af- testants in France imbibed it, from conviction of 
of Dort yn ° d trut h j an d more were constrained to pay re¬ 
spect to it, from a seasonable complaisance to the 
catholics, who were extremely indignant at the synod; which 
complaisance gave way in process of time to better motives. 
In Bremen, Brandenburg, and other churches of Germany, it 
soon acquired an extensive and permanent footing. And even 
in Geneva, where Calvinism had flourished so long and so 
exclusively, it took up its residence, and in the course of a few 
years prevailed so much, that the Genevese might also be do¬ 
minated an Arminian church. 

In England, too, Arminianism was important at an early 
period ; and, being taken under the protection of sovereign 
po^ver, and made the condition of civil and ecclesiastical pre¬ 
ferment, it was embraced more speedily, and more generally, 
than it would probably have been, had it enjoyed no such ad¬ 
vantages. James I., who had sent deputies to the synod of 
Dort, to assist in condemning them, became at length, for po¬ 
litical reasons, their most zealous friend and supporter. Under 
his successor, Charles I., every method was employed, and 
every effort made, by the celebrated Archbishop Laud, to 
strengthen and promote their cause; and in spite of all the stre¬ 
nuous opposition they met with from the Puritans ; in spite of 
the opprobrious epithets with which their system was loaded; 
in spite of the speeches made against it in parliament, and the 
pamphlets written against it throughout the nation; in spite of 
the ignominious death which Laud and his sovereign suffer¬ 
ed,—the exertions of that able and tyrannical prelate, in be¬ 
half of Arminianism, were in a great measure successful. It 


ARMINIANS. 


447 


languished during the usurpation of Cromwell, but revived 
again with fresh vigour at the restoration; when every thing 
hostile to Calvinistic or Puritanical principles became fashion¬ 
able and gainful. Ever since that period, it has continued to 
flourish. 

From England, Arminianism travelled into Scotland, where, 
however, it made no great impression for a long series of 
years, having to contend with a strong and rooted attachment 
to the doctrine and discipline of Geneva, and being generally 
united with episcopacy, of which the Scottish nation has been 
always and utterly abhorrent. Since the middle of the last 
century it has been rapidly gaining ground, particularly 
among that class of the higher ranks in which there is still 
left a serious and practical belief of the truth of Christianity. 
Of the clergy, a few venture to preach it openly in some of its 
most corrupted forms. There are a great many, too, who so 
far acquiesce in it, as never to meddle with the doctrines of 
election and reprobation, in their public or private ministra¬ 
tions, some from a decided disbelief of them, and others, from 
a mere conviction of their inexpediency. Arminianism has 
for many years prevailed to some extent in the United States. 
The Wesleyan Methodists are considered to have adopted the 
distinguishing doctrines of Arminianism, as have also a few 
among the Congregationalists, and probably more among the 
Episcopalians. 

The distinguishing tenets of the Arminians may be said to 
consist chiefly in the different light in which they view the 
subjects of the five points, or in the different ex- c ^ 
planation which they give to them, and are com¬ 
prised in the five following articles; Predestination, Univer¬ 
sal Redemption , the Corruption of Human Nature, Conver¬ 
sion, and Perseverance. 

I. With respect to the first, they maintained,—“ That God, 
from all eternity, determined to bestow salvation on those 
whom he foresaw would persevere unto the end in their faith 
in Jesus Christ, and to inflict everlasting punishments on those 
who should continue in their unbelief, and resist to the end 
his divine assistance;—so that election was conditional, and 
reprobation, in like manner, the result of foreseen infidelity 
and persevering wickedness.” 

II. On the second point they taught,—“ That Jesus Christ, 
by his sufferings and death, made an atonement for the sins of 
all mankind in general, and of every individual in particular; 
that, however, none but those who believe in him, can be par¬ 
takers of their divine benefit.” 


443 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


III. On the third article they held,—“ That true faith can¬ 
not proceed from the exercise of our natural faculties and pow¬ 
ers, nor from the force and operation of free-will; since man, 
in consequence of his natural corruption, is incapable either of 
thinking or doing any good thing; and that, therefore, it is 
necessary to his conversion and salvation, that he be regene¬ 
rated , and renewed by the operation of the Holy Ghost, which 
is the gift of God through Jesus Christ.” 

IV. On the fourth , they believe,—“ That divine grace, or 
the energy of the Holy Ghost, begins and perfects everything 
that can be called good in man, and consequently all good 
works are to be attributed to God alone;—that, nevertheless, 
this grace is offered to all, and does not force men to act against 
their inclinations, but maybe resisted and rendered ineffectual 
by the perverse will of the impenitent sinner.” 

V. On the fifth , they hold,—“ That God gives to the truly 
faithful who are regenerated by his grace, the means of preser¬ 
ving themselves in this state;” and though the first Armi- 
nians entertained some doubts respecting the closing part of 
this article, their followers uniformly maintain, “ that the rege¬ 
nerate may lose true justifying faith, fall from a state of grace, 
and die in their sins.” 

It appears, therefore, that the followers of Arminius believe 
that God, having an equal regard for all his creatures, sent 
his Son to die for the sins, not of the elect only, but of the 
whole world; that no mortal is rendered finally unhappy by 
an eternal and invincible decree, but that the misery of those 
who perish arises from themselves; and that, in this present 
imperfect state, believers, if not peculiarly vigilant, may, 
through the force of temptation, and the influence of Satan, 
fall from grace, and sink into final perdition. 

SEC. VII.-CONGREGATIONALISTS. 

The Congregationalists are a sect of Protestants, so called, 
from their maintaining that each congregation of Christians, 
which meets in one place for public worship, 
Definition of i s a complete church, formed by the free con- 
al?sts. regatl ° n ~ sent an( ^ mutual agreement of the members, 
adopting its own rules of procedure, and subject 
to no control from other churches. 

They originated from a portion of the English establish¬ 
ment, who desired a purer church, and resolved, at all 

Ori^n hazards, to enjoy the rights of conscience. From 
this circumstance they were stigmatized with the 


CONGREGATION ALISTS. 


449 


general name of Puritans , and under that appellation have 
been known in the history of succeeding times. The Congre- 
gationalists of New England are descendants of this people. 

The Puritans were not distinguished as a body till the 
time of Queen Elizabeth; but being composed at first of differ¬ 
ent ranks, characters, opinions, and intentions, History be- 
they soon divided into a variety of sects. They fore their re* 
were all, however, united in hostility to the esta- movaltoAme- 
blished church, as it had been modelled by the nca * 
queen. Among those sects the Brownists were for a time 
conspicuous; but being intolerant in their sentiments, ana 
their leader, Robert Brown, after their retirement into the 
Netherlands, having forsaken them, and returned to the esta¬ 
blishment, they declined. The immediate fathers of the New 
England Congregationalists, though they embraced some of 
the early tenets of Brown, particularly in respect to church 
government, and though they belonged to the same general 
class of dissenters, were nevertheless men of a different and 
better spirit. Their principles and their order were moulded 
chiefly by one of their first pastors, Mr. John Robinson, an 
accomplished, inoffensive man, considerably learned, and ex¬ 
emplary in piety. In their native land, however, they were 
not long permitted to live in peace. The spirit of persecution 
arose, and flying before it, Mr. Robinson and his people re¬ 
solved to take refuge in Holland, at that time an asylum for 
the oppressed. It was, however, difficult to escape; and many 
and great were their perils, before they could even reach that 
country. There was a general prohibition of emigration, they 
were narrowly watched by the ecclesiastical authorities, and 
several times when they were about to embark, and once when 
they had already embarked, they were betrayed by the seamen, 
into the hands of their enemies. When at length they suc¬ 
ceeded and arrived in Holland, they first established themselves 
at Amsterdam, but the following year they removed to Ley den. 
In this latter place they resided for twelve years, blessed with 
peace and prosperity. They observed the rules of their com¬ 
munion with entire fidelity, and as they were joined by numbers 
from England, became eventually a large and powerful church. 

Desirable, however, as their present condition was, it pro¬ 
mised to be prosperous only for the present. They were in a 
confined condition, surrounded by evil examples 
in the community among whom they lived; the vala ^X™b- 
fathers of the church were one after another jectsinview. 
called away by death ; and fears were enter- ' 
tained that their young men would be corrupted, and swerve 

38 * 


450 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


from the faith. On these accounts they were desirous of re* 
moving to America. Accordingly, having at length settled 
the question of removal, a portion of the church under the 
charge of their elder, William Brewster, embarked for the 
New World, on the 6th of September, 1620. They had pre¬ 
viously obtained leave of the Virginia company to begin a 
settlement at the mouth of the Hudson river. In their passage 
they suffered much from the elements, while their hopes were 
greatly disappointed by the treachery of their captain, who, 
through the influence of bribery, instead of taking them to 
their place of destination, landed them on the rock at Ply¬ 
mouth, on the 22d of December. The family of Mr. Robin¬ 
son, after his death, which happened before he could be 
prepared to leave, together with the rest of his flock, at length 
joined their brethren in America. 

This was the commencement of New England, and to the 
personal character of these men, is to be traced its civil polity, 
General cha- anc ^ especially its Congregationalism. That 
racter of the character may be given in few words. As the 
original set- founders of a nation, they were the most respect- 
tiers of New a p] c 0 p history gives an account. The 

sterling qualities of their minds and hearts shone 
in the peculiar circumstances in which they were placed, 
called as they were to perform arduous duties, and to sustain 
severe trials, in the exigencies of their infant establishment. 
Many of them were men of ah accomplished education, and 
not less pious than they were learned. This was the case es¬ 
pecially with their governors, magistrates, and leading charac¬ 
ters. The people in general were pious and strictly moral. 
Instances of intemperance, wantonness, sabbath breaking, 
fraud, or any other gross immorality, were rarely found among 
them, for many years. 

In respect to their spiritual teachers, it may be observed, 
that they were men of great learning and abilities. They 
Character were all men of the strictest morals, serious, ex- 
and labours of perimental preachers. Mr. Neal, after giving a 
Ministers. catalogue of the ministers, who first illumina¬ 
ted the churches of New England, bears this testimony con¬ 
cerning them. “ I will not say that all the ministers mention¬ 
ed were men of the first rate for learning, but I can assure 
the reader they had a better share of it, than most of their 
neighbouring clergy, at that time; they were men of great 
sobriety and virtue, plain, serious, affectionate preachers, ex¬ 
actly conformable to the doctrine of the church of England, 
and took a great deal of pains to promote a reformation of 


CONGREGATION A LISTS. 


451 


manners in their several parishes.” They were mighty and 
abundant in prayer. They not only fasted and prayed frequent¬ 
ly with their people, in public, but kept many days of secret 
fasting, prayer, and self-examination, in their studies. Some 
of them, it seems, fasted and prayed, in this private manner, 
every week. Besides the exercises on the Lord’s day, they 
preached lectures, not only in public, but from house to house. 
They were diligent and laborious, in catechising and instruct¬ 
ing the children and young people, both in public and private. 

They paid a constant attention to the religion of their 
families. They read the scriptures and prayed in them daily, 
morning and evening, and instructed all their domestics con¬ 
stantly to attend the secret as well as private and public duties 
of religion. They were attentive to the religious state of all 
the families and individuals of their respective flocks. As 
they had taken up the cross, forsaken their pleasant seats and 
enjoyments in their native country, and followed their Saviour 
into a land not sown, for the sake of his holy religion, and 
the advancement of his kingdom, they sacrificed all worldly 
interests to these glorious purposes.* 

It was the opinion of the principal divines, who first set¬ 
tled New England, and Connecticut, that in every church, 
completely organized, there was a pastor, teach- Their send¬ 
er, ruling elder, and deacons. These distinct ments in rela- 
offices they imagined were clearly taught in tion to church- 
those passages, Romans xii. 7; 1 Corinth, xii. eS) &c> 

28; 1 Timothy v. 17; and Ephesians iv. 11. From these 
they argued the duty of all churches, which were able, to be 
thus furnished. In this manner were the churches of Hart¬ 
ford, Windsor, New Haven, and other towns, organized. The 
churches, which were not able to support a pastor and teacher, 
had their ruling elders and deacons. Their ruling elders were 
ordained with no less solemnity, than their pastors and teachers. 
Where no teacher could be obtained, the pastor performed the 
duties both of pastor and teacher. It was the general opinion, 
that the pastor’s work consisted principally in exhortation, in 
working upon the will and affections. To this the whole 
force of his studies was to be directed; that, by his judicious, 
powerful, and affectionate addresses, he might win his hear¬ 
ers to the love and practice of the truth. But the teacher was 
doctor in ecclesia, whose business it was to teach, explain, and 
defend, the doctrines of Christianity. He was to inform the 
judgment, and advance the work of illumination. 

* Trumbull’s History of Connecticut. 


452 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


The business of the ruling elder was to assist the pastor in 
the government of the church. He was particularly set apart 
to watch over all its members; to prepare and bring forward 
all cases of discipline; to visit and pray with the sick; and, 
in the absence of the pastor and teacher, to pray with the con¬ 
gregation and expound the scriptures. 

The pastors and churches of New England maintained, with 
the reformed churches in general, that bishops and presbyters 
were only different names for the same office; and that all 
pastors, regularly separated to the gospel ministry, were 
scripture bishops. They also insisted, agreeably to the primi¬ 
tive practice, that the work of every pastor was confined, prin¬ 
cipally, to one particular church and congregation, who could 
all assemble at one place, whom he could inspect, and who 
could all unite together in acts of worship and discipline. In¬ 
deed the first ministers of Connecticut and New England at 
first maintained, that all the pastor’s office power was confined 
to his own church and congregation, and that the administer¬ 
ing of baptism and the Lord’s Supper in other churches was 
irregular. 

With respect to ordination, they held, that it did not consti¬ 
tute the essentials of the ministerial office; but the qualifications 
for office, the election of the church, guided by 

The ordina- t ] le ru } e 0 f anc J th e acceptance of the pas¬ 

ters. ° mimS tor elect. Says Mr. Hooker, “ Ordination is an 
approbation of the officer, and solemn setting 
and confirmation of him in his office, by prayer and laying on 
of hands.” It was viewed, by the ministers of New England, 
as no more than putting the pastor elect into office, or a solemn 
recommending of him and his labours to the blessings of God. 
It was the general opinion, that elders ought to lay on hands 
in ordination, if there were a presbytery in the church, but if 
there were not, the church might appoint some other elders, 
or a number of the brethren to that service. 

It was acknowledged that synods or general councils, were 
an ordinance of Christ, and in some cases, expedient and 
Power of Sy- necessal T : that their business was to give light 
nods. " an d counsel in weighty concerns, and bear testi¬ 
mony against corruption in doctrines and morals. 
While it was granted, that their determinations ought to be 
received with reverence, and not to be counteracted, unless 
apparently repugnant to the scriptures, it was insisted, that 
they had no juridical power. The churches of Connecticut 
originally maintained, that the right of choosing and settling 
their ministers, of exercising discipline, and performing all 


CON G REG ATION ALISTS. 


453 


An example 
of their man- 
of 


ner 


cove¬ 


nanting, 
together 


in 


juridical acts was, in the church, when properly organized; 
and they denied all external or foreign power of presbyteries, 
synods, general councils, or assemblies. Hence they were 
termed congregational churches. 

To show their manner of covenanting, we will take an ex¬ 
ample from the churches of New Haven, Milford, and Guil¬ 
ford, in Connecticut. These were formed first 
by the choice of seven persons, from among the 
brethren, who were termed the pillars. A con¬ 
fession of faith was drawn up to which they all 
assented, as preparatory to their covenanting 
church estate. They then entered into covenant, first with 
God, to be his people in Christ, and then with each other, to 
walk together in the strict and conscientious practice of all 
Christian duties, and in the enjoyment of all the ordinances and 
privileges of a church of Christ. The confessions of faith con¬ 
tained a summary of Christian doctrine, and were strictly 
Calvinistic. The covenants were full, solemn, and expressive, 
importing, that they avouched the Lord Jehovah, Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost, to be their sovereign Lord and supreme 
Good; and that they gave themselves up to him, through 
Jesus Christ, in the way and on the terms of the covenant of 
grace. They covenanted with each other to uphold the divine 
worship and ordinances, in the churches of which they were 
members ; to watch over each other as brethren ; to bear testi¬ 
mony against all sin ; and to teach all under their care to fear 
and serve the Lord. The other brethren joined themselves to 
the seven pillars, by making the same profession of faith, and 
covenanting in the same manner. The members, previously 


to their covenanting with each other, 


gave 


one another satis¬ 


faction with respect to their repentance, faith, and purposes of 
holy living. 

Many of the clergy, who first came into the country, had 
good estates, and assisted their poor brethren and parishioners 
in their straits in making new settlements. The _ „ . 

people were then far more dependent on their the c i er0 y/ 
ministers than they have been since. The pro¬ 
portion of learned men was much less then, than at the present 
time. The clergy possessed a very great proportion of the 
literature of the colony. They were the principal instructers 
of the young gentlemen, who were liberally educated, before 
they commenced members of college, and they assisted them 
in their studies afterwards. They instructed and furnished 
others for public usefulness, who had not a public education. 
They had given a striking evidence of their integrity and self 


454 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


denial, in emigrating into this rough and distant country, for 
the sake of religion, and were faithful and abundant in their 
labours. By their example, counsels, exhortations, and money, 
they assisted and encouraged the people. Besides, the people, 
who came into the country with them, had a high relish for 
the word and ordinances. They were exiles and fellow suf¬ 
ferers in a strange land. All these circumstances combined to 
give them an uncommon influence over their hearers of all 
ranks and characters. For many years they were consulted 
by the legislature, in all affairs of importance, civil or reli¬ 
gious. They were appointed committees, with the governors 
and magistrates, to advise, make draughts, and assist them in 
the most delicate and interesting concerns of the common¬ 
wealth. 

Amidst many causes of prosperity, in the Congregational 
churches of New England of the first ages, there was occa¬ 
sionally a source of inquietude and evil. Such 
was t ^ le controversy in respect to what has been 
called the half-way covenant. It arose about 
the year 1650 in the church at Hartford, Connecticut, respect¬ 
ing church membership. It soon extended to other churches, 
until at length the whole of New England became more or 
less agitated. The subject of the controversy, was the propri¬ 
ety of admitting into the church, any persons not outwardly 
vicious, upon merely a public assent to the cardinal truths of 
the Gospel, without allowing them to partake of the Lord’s 
Supper. The object of this partial membership was, that pa¬ 
rents might procure baptism for their children. The contro¬ 
versy brought the ministers of religion together at Boston, in 
1657, in a synod, for the purpose of discussing and settling it. 
This body gave its sanction to what has been so significantly 
called “the half-way practice,” and, strange to say, judged it 
proper to admit persons into the church, on the conditions above 
mentioned. The principal reason which governed the deci¬ 
sion of the synod, was, that as the children in the provinces 
were mostly growing up in an unsanctified state, some mea¬ 
sure must be taken to diffuse more widely the privilege of 
baptism, or the church itself, now fast diminishing, would, in 
their view, soon become extinct. They accordingly recom¬ 
mended this unscriptural plan ; for the children thus baptized 
were considered as actual members of the church, and if irre¬ 
proachable in their external-deportment, were admitted at a 
certain age, to the communion table. The decision of the 
synod was far from being characterized by unanimity. The 
point was keenly debated before the body, nor did the discus- 


CONGREGATION A LISTS. 


455 


sion cease for more than a century afterwards; and of the 
churches some acceded to the recommendation of the synod, 
and others refused compliance. This difference of practice 
ceased not to he a source of contention, till within a few years 
past. The practice and the controversy are now happily done 
away. 

The present state of the Congregational churches is, in gene¬ 
ral, highly flourishing and happy. Except the Unitarian de¬ 
fection which exists in Massachusetts, particu- 
larly in Boston and its vicinity, Congregational- ofthechurches. 
ism, for the last thirty years, has regained a por¬ 
tion of its early purity and power. Its ministry is character¬ 
ized by zeal, learning, and efficiency. The means of acquir¬ 
ing biblical and theological science have been multiplied, and 
are now extensively enjoyed. With the facilities enjoyed for 
obtaining a theological education, on the part of those who are 
designed for the ministry, are combined other means designed 
to advance the interests of the Congregational churches, and 
the general prevalence of morality and piety among the peo¬ 
ple. Among those means are infant schools, sabbath schools, 
bible classes, temperance associations, and domestic mission¬ 
ary societies. The great objects of benevolence, in relation to 
other sections of the United States and other countries, are also 
extensively patronized among the Congregationalists of New 
England. Above all, a vast increase has been received by 
their churches in consequence of revivals of religion, which 
have been enjoyed ever since the commencement of the present 
century. 

In respect to the ordination and settlement of ministers in 
Congregational churches, we have briefly to state, that the 
mode of procedure is as follows. After the can- Manner of 
didate has preached to the congregation for a calling and 
longer or shorter time, as the case may be, if he selling minis- 
proves acceptable to them, he is called by a vote te,s * 
of the church to become its pastor. In the same manner he 
subsequently receives a call from the congregation as such, or 
from the ecclesiastical society, consisting both of the members 
of the church and of others who are not church-members, to 
become their minister, with the offer of a salary, as his sup¬ 
port. After the candidate accepts the invitation, the day is ap¬ 
pointed, by mutual agreement, for his induction into office, 
and at the same time a council of pastors, usually in the im¬ 
mediate vicinity, is selected to carry the proposed measure into 
effect. This council commonly assembles on the day prece¬ 
ding that of the installation or ordination ; examines the candi- 


456 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


date, and approves or rejects him, according as in their view 
he is qualified or otherwise for the proposed office. If he he 
approved, the solemnity takes place according to the appoint¬ 
ment, at an hour fixed on by the council, the various parts of 
the service having been previously assigned to the officiating 
pastors. 

In the matter of discipline among Congregational churches, 
the rule of procedure in all cases of personal injury, and in 

Discipline ordinary cases of more general or public of¬ 
fence is held to be that which is pointed out by 
Christ in Matt, xviii. 15-17. 1. The first thing to be done in 

the treatment of such a case, is private expostulation with the 
offender. “ Go and tell him his fault between thee and him 
alone.” This you are to do, in just this way, in regard to 
every offence which deserves to be noticed at all. It is a too 
common practice with church-members, when they disagree, 
to neglect this simple measure—the dictate of common sense 
and Christian feeling, no less than of the Saviour—till the 
difficulty has been fermenting and brewing a long time ; till 
each has shown the other, in many ways, how much he dis¬ 
likes and distrusts him; and perhaps till their mutual alien¬ 
ation has become a matter of general notoriety, not only in 
the church, but among all their worldly neighbours and ac¬ 
quaintance. Then when the difficulty has grown old and 
stubborn, one of the parties begins what he calls a course of 
discipline with the other, and goes to him, not with the design 
or hope of effecting a reconciliation at once, but only to tell 
him with a bitter mind all his grievances, and to get the matter 
in a way to be prosecuted before the church. I say then, re¬ 
member this distinctly, If thy brother trespass against thee, go 
at once, like a brother, and in the spirit of a brother, to win 
him back to the exercise of kind feelings toward yourself. 
Tell him just what it is which has wounded you; hear his 
explanation; make every concession which you would make 
if you and he were in dying circumstances ; be resolved that 
by your kindness, and gentleness, and meekness, you will 
heap coals of fire on his head, to melt but not to consume, to 
purify but not to destroy. If the offence is too small to be 
treated so formally, it is too small to be mentioned to a third 
person ; nay, it is too small to be remembered to his disadvan¬ 
tage. Do this then, if you do any thing. Do this, and per¬ 
haps thou wilt gain thy brother. 

2. The next step, if the former fails, is expostulation, with 
the assistance of one or two brethren. “ If he will not hear 
thee, then take with thee one or two more,” It was a princi- 


CONGREGATIONALISM'S. 


457 


pie of Jewish law, that no man should be condemned but by 
the concurrent testimony of two or three witnesses. “ On the 
word of two witnesses, or on the word of three witnesses, 
shall the matter rest.” Deut. xix. 15. This seems to have 
been a proverb among the Jews in the time of our Saviour. 
Christ quotes it accordingly in one of his public discourses, 
where he says, “My judgment is true; for I am not alone, 
but I and the Father that sent me. It is written in your law, 
that the testimony of two men is true.” (John viii. 16, 17.) 
So in this instance he quotes it—the very words of the law— 
in a popular and proverbial sense. Take with you one or 
two more, that your expostulation with the offender may be 
confirmed by their concurrence and authority; and that, if 
you should be constrained to carry the matter farther, your 
complaint may be sustained by them, as well as by yourself. 
Here is a second trial of the man’s spirit, a second opportunity 
for a reconciliation. Though the former effort failed, there 
is hope that this may be successful. When you came alone, 
perhaps he heard you with some prejudice against you, per¬ 
haps your manner was not sufficiently conciliating, perhaps 
your words were not fitly chosen. But now you have se¬ 
lected one or two of the brethren whom you consider most 
likely to have a favourable influence over him; and in their 
company you go to him, determined not to give him up, and 
earnestly bent on effecting a reconciliation. These brethren 
act as mediators between you and him, and as moderators of 
your debates. They hear his explanations, if he offers any; 
they hear his defence, if he defends himself. They show 
you perhaps some error on your part; they lead you perhaps 
to new concessions. They ply him with new arguments, or 
set the former arguments in a new light. Perhaps he yields; 
if so, how blessed is the victory. Peace is restored. Thou 
hast gained thy brother. 

3. If he is still unyielding, there remains another effort. 

“ If he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church ” 
In bringing the matter before the church, still use the advice 
and assistance of those brethren who have already assisted 
you. Let that which is alleged against the offending brother * 
be distinctly defined. Show, in your complaint, (which ought 
of course to be in writing,) what specific offences the accused 
has committed against you, so that he may know, and the 
church may know, what it is which you are to prove, and 
against which he must defend himself. Let your complaint 
be put into the hands of the elders, that they may advise you 
of any mistake which vou mav have committed, or of any 
39 


458 


mOTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


thing which you may have left undone. And if, even at this 
stage, a reconciliation can be effected, by their mediation, or 
in any other way, so much the better; the great point is se¬ 
cured ; thou hast gained thy brother. But if the necessity 
remains, let it come before the church; and let the church 
use their united endeavours to heal the difficulty. Perhaps 
the offender may now' be w r on over to a new spirit. Let the 
trial be made. Let him be admonished and pleaded with by 
the assembled brotherhood, speaking through their elders. 
Try it diligently and thoroughly. Perhaps he may be gained. 

4. But if all is in vain, then comes the last resort. “ If he 
neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen 
man and a publican.” He is no longer to be reckoned among 
the faithful. He has shown that he has not the spirit of 
Christ, and is none of his; and what remains but that he be 
regarded and treated accordingly. The church is to exclude 
him from its fellowship.* 

Among the Congregationalists, the Lord’s Supper is observ¬ 
ed in that simple and plain form, which is indicated by the 

The Lord’s a P ost ^ e t ^ ie l atter P art of the 11th chapter of 
Supper ^ -^ s ^ rst e pi st ^ e t0 Corinthians. Only those 
who have made a public profession of religion, 
having before the congregation assented to the articles of faith 
held by the church, and owned its covenant, are considered as 
entitled to a seat at the sacramental table. To such, after the 
consecration of the elements of bread and wdne, by the prayers 
of the officiating minister, are these elements administered, by 
the hands of the deacons of the church. 

Among the Congregationalists, the rite of baptism is adminis¬ 
tered only to professed believers and to their children. Since 

Baptism. t ^ ie “ half-way practice” has ceased, the child¬ 
ren of a household are recognised as having 
a right to the seal of the covenant only through the faith 
of their parents, or of one of them, except where they are 
of suitable age to profess religion, on their own account. 
When the ordinance is administered, it is almost always by 
sprinkling or affusion. In some cases when it has been wished 
by the adult applicant, plunging has been adopted, after the 
manner of the Baptists. 

The marriage ceremony among the Congregationalists is 
performed in a very simple and decent manner. After the 

Marriages. P ub li cation ^ ans > in conformity to the civil 
statute, the parties commonly invite their minis- 


* Bacon’s Church Manual. 


CONG REG ATIONALISTS. 


459 


ter to the house of the parents of the lady, where their friends 
and acquaintance are assembled, and there, in presence of the 
company, take upon them the marriage vow from the lips of 
the minister, according to the particular form which he pleases 
to adopt. This form is always concise, expressive, and proper. 
The whole transaction is consecrated by prayers, commonly 
one before the administration of the covenant and another 
after it. 

Their funerals are conducted after the model of simplicity 
and directness by which all their other religious 
ceremonies are distinguished. At the time of unera s " 
interment, the minister of the parish by invitation, attends 
either at the house of the deceased, or at the church, where he 
meets the relatives and neighbours, and offers prayer suited 
to the occasion, after which the corpse is carried away, at¬ 
tended by the mourners and such of the assembly as choose, 
to the public burying-ground, where it is consigned to the 
grave. In some places it is customary for the officiating cler¬ 
gyman to make a short address to the people, either before or 
after the body is interred. 

A late writer holds the following language as to the dis¬ 
tinctive principles of Congregationalism. 1. Congregational¬ 
ism is distinguished from all sorts of prelacy, Distinctive 
Roman, Oriental, English, and Wesleyan, by principles of 
the principle that all Christ’s servants in the Congregation- 
w r ork of the gospel, are equal in rank. alism. 

2. It is distinguished from Episcopacy and Presbyterian¬ 
ism, by the principle that the only organized church is a par¬ 
ticular church, a congregation of believers statedly meeting 
in one place. A provincial or national church, including 
many particular churches, and governed by general officers, 
has no place in the Congregational system. 

3. It is distinguished from the forementioned systems, by 
the principle that all church power resides in the church, and 
not in church officers; and resides in each particular church 
directly and originally, by virtue of the express or implied 
compact of its members, and not traditionally, or by virtue of 
any authority derived by succession from some higher body, 
ecclesiastical or clerical. 

4. It is distinguished from strict Independency, by the 
principle of the communion of churches. 

5. It is distinguished from the system of the Baptist 
churches, by the principle of the right of believing parents to 
dedicate their infant children to God in baptism; by the prin¬ 
ciple that in the ceremony of baptism it is not material how 



460 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


much water is used, or whether the water is applied to the 
person or the person to the water; and by the principle of 
open communion with all who make a credible profession of 
being Christ’s disciples. 

As to the difference between the Congregational System 
and the Presbyterian, two points may be stated more distinctly. 

1. A Congregational church, like a Presbyterian church, 
may have its ruling elders ; but while the Presbyterian sys¬ 
tem makes the elders accountable, not to the church, but to 
some “ superior judicature,” Congregationalism permits no¬ 
thing to be done in the name of the church, without the dis¬ 
tinct consent of the brotherhood. 

2. A Congregational church may hold communion and in¬ 
tercourse with sister churches by means of such bodies as 
presbyteries and synods ; but, while Presbyterianism regards 
these bodies as “judicatures,” “courts of the Lord Jesus 
Christ,” having authority to decide all controversies judicially, 
and to “ send down” their injunctions to the churches,—Con¬ 
gregationalism must needs regard them only as meetings for 
intercourse and communion, as councils to advise and per¬ 
suade in matters of common interest, and as means of keeping 
up a common feeling among the neighbouring and the distant 
members of the great union. Congregationalism acknow¬ 
ledges no power over the churches but the power of light 
and love.* 


SEC. VIII.-BAFTISTS. 


The members of this denomination are distinguished from 
all other professing Christians, by their opinions respecting 
How distin- ^ ie ordinance of Christian Baptism. Conceiv- 
guished from mg that positive institutions cannot be esta- 
other denomi- Wished by analogical reasoning, but depend on 
nations. the w p] 0 f the Saviour, revealed in express 

precepts , and that apostolical example illustrative of this is 
the rule of duty, they differ from their Christian brethren with 
regard both to the subjects and the mode of baptism. 

With respect to the subjects , from the command which 
Christ gave after his resurrection, and in which baptism is 
Subjects. mentioned as consequent to faith in the gospel , 
they conceive them to be those, and those only , 
who believe what the apostles were then enjoined to preach. 
With respect to the mode , they affirm, that, instead of sprink- 


* Bacon’s Church Manual. 


baptists. 461 

ling or pouring, the person ought to be immersed in the 
water, referring to the primitive practice, and ob¬ 
serving that the baptizer as well as the baptized 
having gone down into the water, the latter is baptized in it, 
and both come up out of it. They say, that John baptized in 
the Jordan , and that Jesus, after being baptized, came up out 
of it. Believers are said also to be “ buried with Christ by 
baptism into death , wherein also they are risen with him 
and the Baptists insist, that this is a doctrinal allusion incom¬ 
patible with any other mode. 

But they say, that their views of this institution are much 
more confirmed, and nviy be better understood, by studying 
its nature and import. They consider it as an impressive 
emblem of that , by which their sins are remitted or washed 
away, and of that on account of which the Holy Spirit is 
given to those who obey the Messiah. In other words, they 
view Christian baptism as a figurative representation of that 
which the gospel of Jesus is in testimony. To this the mind 
of the baptized is therefore naturally led, while spectators are 
to consider him as professing his faith in the gospel, and his 
subjection to the Redeemer. The Baptists, therefore, would 
say, that none ought to be baptized, except those who seem to 
believe this gospel; and that immersion is not properly a 
mode of baptism, but baptism itself. 

Thus the English and most foreign Baptists consider a 
personal profession of faith, and an immersion^ in water, as 
essential to baptism. The profession of faith is generally 
made before the congregation, at a church-meeting. On these 
occasions some have a creed, to which they expect the candi¬ 
date to assent, and to give a circumstantial account of his con¬ 
version ; but others require only a profession of his faith as a 
Christian. The former generally consider baptism as an or¬ 
dinance, which initiates persons into a particular church; 
and they say that, without breach of Christian liberty, they 
have a right to expect an agreement in articles of faith in their 
own societies. The latter think, that baptism initiates merely - 
into a profession of the Christian religion, and therefore say, 
that they have no right to require an assent to their creed 
from such as do not intend to join their communion; and in 
support of their opinion, they quote the baptism of the eunuch 
in the eighth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. 

The Baptists are divided into the General , who are Armi- 
nians, and the Particular , who are Calvinists. Some of both 
classes allow mixed communion , by which is un- rp wo Q] asses 
derstood, that those who have not been baptized 
39* 


462 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


by immersion on the profession of their faith, (but in their in¬ 
fancy, which they themselves deem valid,) may sit down at 
the Lord’s table along with those who have been thus bap¬ 
tized. This has given rise to much controversy on the subject. 

Some of both classes of Baptists are, at the same time, Sab¬ 
batarians, and, with the Jews, observe the seventh day of the 
week as the sabbath. This has been adopted by them, from 
a persuasion that all the ten commandments are in their nature 
strictly moral, and that the observance of the seventh day was 
never abrogated or repealed by our Saviour or his apostles. 

In church-government the Baptists differ little from the In¬ 
dependents, except that, in some of their churches, the Bap¬ 
tists have three distinct orders of ministers, who are separately 
ordained, and to the highest of whom they give the name of 
messengers, to the second that of elders, and to the third that 
of deacons. With respect to excommunication, they seem 
closely to follow our Saviour’s directions in the eighteenth 
chapter of Sk- Matthew’s gospel, which they apply to differ¬ 
ences between individuals ; and if any man be guilty of scan¬ 
dalous immorality, they exclude him from the brotherhood 
or fellowship of the church. Like the other Protestant dis¬ 
senters, the Baptists receive the Lord’s Supper sitting at a 
common table, and giving the elements one to another. 

The Baptists in Great Britain, Ireland, Holland, Germany, 
the United States of America, Upper Canada, &c. are divided, 
as has been already observed, into two distinct classes, or so¬ 
cieties, the Particular or Calvinistic, and the General or Ar- 
minian Baptists. The former are said to be much more nu¬ 
merous than the latter. 

The father of the General Baptists was a Mr. Smith, who 
was at first a clergyman of the Church of England ; but re¬ 
signing his living, he went over to Holland, where his Bap¬ 
tist-principles were warmly opposed by Messrs. Ainsworth 
and Robinson, of whom the former was pastor of'the Brown- 
ists, or Independents, at Amsterdam, and the latter of those at 
Leyden. As Mr. Smith did not think that any one at the 
time was duly qualified to administer the ordinance of baptism, 
he baptized himself, and hence was denominated a re-baptist 
He afterwards adopted the Arminian doctrines; and, in 1611, 
the General Baptists published a Confession of Faith, which 
diverges much further from Calvinism than those who are 
now called Arminians would approve, A considerable num¬ 
ber of them have embraced Unitarianism. On this account, 
several of their ministers and churches, who disapprove of 
those principles, have, within the last fifty years, formed them- 


BAPTISTS. 


463 

selves into a distinct connexion, called The New Association . 
The churches, in this union, keep up a friendly acquaintance, 
in some outward things, with those from whom they have se¬ 
parated ; but in things more essential, and, particularly, as to 
the changing of ministers, and the admission of members, 
they disclaim any connexion. 

Dr. Evans, from the late Mr. Robinson’s History of Bap¬ 
tism, has given the following animated account of this practice 
of adult baptism:—“ Not many years ago, at 
Whittlesford, seven miles from Cambridge, for- .Baptism ad- 

* , O 7 min ictprpn 

ty-eight persons were baptized in that ford of 
the river from which the village takes its name. At 
ten o’clock of a very fine morning in May, about 1500 
people of different ranks assembled together. At half-past 
ten in the forenoon, the late Dr. Andrew Gifford, Fellow 
of the Society of Antiquaries, sub-librarian of the British Mu¬ 
seum, and teacher of a Baptist congregation in Eagle-street, 
London, ascended a moveable pulpit in a large open court¬ 
yard, near the river, and adjoining to the house of the lord of 
the manor. Round him stood the congregation ; people on 
horseback, in coaches, and in carts, formed the outside semi¬ 
circle ; many other persons sitting in the rooms of the houses, 
the sashes being open ; all were uncovered, and there was a 
profound silence. The doctor first gave out a hymn, which the 
congregation sung. Then he prayed. Prayer ended, he took 
out a New Testament, and read his text— I indeed baptize 
you with water unto repentance. He observed, that the force 
of the preposition had escaped the notice of the translators, and 
that the true reading was—I indeed baptize or dip you in 
water at or upon repentance; which sense he confirmed by 
the forty-first verse of the twelfth chapter of Matthew, and other 
passages. Then he spoke, as most Baptists do on these occa¬ 
sions, concerning the nature , subject , mode , and end of this 
ordinance. He closed, by contrasting the doctrine of infant¬ 
sprinkling with that of believers’ baptism, which being a part 
of Christian obedience, was supported by divine promises, on 
the accomplishment of which all good men might depend, 
After sermon he read another hymn and prayed, and then 
came down. Then the candidates for baptism retired, to pre¬ 
pare themselves. 

“ About half an hour after, the administrator, who that day 
was a nephew of the doctor’s, and admirably qualified for the 
work, in a long black gown of fine baize, without a hat, with 
a small New Testament in his hand, came down to the river¬ 
side, accompanied by several Baptist-ministers and deacons of 


464 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


their churches, and the persons to be baptized. The men 
came first, two and two, without hats, and dressed as usual, ex¬ 
cept that, instead of coats, each had on a long white baize gown, 
tied round the waist with a sash. Such as had no hair, wore 
white cotton or linen caps. The women followed the men, 
two and two, all dressed neat, clean, and plain, and their 
gowns white linen or dimity. It was said, the garments had 
knobs of lead at bottom, to make them sink. Each had a 
long silk cloak hanging loosely over her shoulders, a broad 
riband tied over her gown beneath the breast, and a hat on 
her head. They all ranged themselves around the adminis¬ 
trator at the water-side. A great number of spectators stood 
on the banks of the river, on both sides; some had climbed 
and sat on the trees, many sat on horseback and in carriages, 
and all behaved with a decent seriousness, which did honour 
to the good sense and the good manners of the assembly, as 
well as to the free constitution of this country. First, the ad¬ 
ministrator read a hymn, which the people sung. Then he 
read that portion of scripture which is read in the Greek 
church on the same occasion, the history of the baptism of the 
eunuch, beginning at the 23d verse, and ending with the 39th. 
About ten minutes he stood expounding the verses, and then 
taking one of the men by the hand, he led him into the water, 
saying, as he went, ‘ See here is water , what doth hinder ? 
If thou believesl with all thine heart , thou mayest be baptized .’ 
When he came to a sufficient depth, he stopped, and with the 
utmost composure placing himself on the left hand of the man, 
his face being towards the man’s shoulder, he put his right 
hand between his shoulders behind, gathering into it a little 
of the gown for hold ; the fingers of the left hand he thrusted 
into the sash before, and the man putting his thumbs into that 
hand, he locked all together, by closing his hand. .Then he 
deliberately said, ‘ I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son , and of the Holy Ghost :’ and while he uttered these 
words, standing wide, he gently leaned him backward and 
dipped him once. As soon as he had raised him, a person in 
a boat fastened there for the purpose, took hold of the man’s 
hand, wiped his face with a napkin, and led him a few steps 
to another attendant, who then gave his arm, walked with him 
to the house, and assisted him to dress. There w r ere many 
such in waiting, who, like the primitive susceptors, assisted 
during the whole service. The rest of the men followed the 
first, and were baptized in like manner. After them the 
women were baptized. A female friend took off at the water¬ 
side the hat and cloak. A deacon of the church led one to the 


METHODISTS. 


465 


administrator and another from him; and a woman at the 
water-side took each as she came out of the river, and con¬ 
ducted her to the apartment in the house, where they dressed 
themselves. When all were baptized, the administrator com¬ 
ing up out of the river, and standing at the side, gave a short 
exhortation on the honour and the pleasure of obedience to 
divine commands, and then, with the usual benediction, dis¬ 
missed the assembly. About half an hour after, the men new¬ 
ly-baptized, having dressed themselves, went from their room 
into a large hall in the house, where they were presently 
joined by the women, who came from their apartments to the 
same place. Then they sent a messenger to the adminis¬ 
trator, who was dressing in his apartment, to inform him they 
waited for him. He presently came, and first prayed for a 
few minutes, and then closed the whole by a short discourse 
on the blessings of civil and religious liberty, the sufficiency 
of scripture, the pleasures of a good conscience, the impor' 
tance of a holy life, and the prospect of a blessed immortality. 
This they call a public baptism.” 

A more private baptism, adds Dr. Evans, takes place after 
a similar manner in baptisteries , which are in or near the 
places of worship : thus every convenience is afforded for the 
purpose. This, indeed, is now the most common way of ad¬ 
ministering the ordinance among the Baptists, either with tho 
attendance of friends, or in the presence of the congregation. 
Such is baptism, by immersion; and thus conducted, it must 
be pronounced significant in its nature, and impressive in its 
tendency. 


SEC. IX.-METHODISTS. 

Methodist, as the distinctive appellation of a religious com¬ 
munity, is now universally understood as designating the fol¬ 
lowers of the famous Mr. John Wesley. In No- Origin, 
vember, 1729, Mr. Wesley, being then a Fellow 
of Lincoln College, Oxford, Mr. Charles Wesley his brother, 
Mr. Morgan, Commoner of Christ Church, and Mr. Kirkman 
of Merton College, set apart some evenings for reading the 
original scriptures and prayer. Sometime after they were 
joined by Mr. Ingham of Queen’s College, Mr. Broughton of 
Exeter, and Mr. James Hervey; and, in 1735, by the cele¬ 
brated Mr. George Whitefield. They soon began to leave oc¬ 
casionally the more private fellowship meeting, to visit the 
prisoners in the castle, and the sick poor in the town. Thev 
also instituted a fund for the relief of the poor, to support which 


466 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


they abridged all superfluities, and even many of the comforts 
of life. Their private meetings became more and more of a 
religious character. - They observed the fasts of the ancient 
church every Wednesday and Friday, and communicated once 
a week. “ We were now,” says Mr. Wesley, “fifteen in num¬ 
ber, all of one heart and of one mind.” Their strict deport¬ 
ment soon attracted the attention of the college censors' and 
students, who branded them with many opprobrious epithets, 
such as Sacramentarians, the Godly Club, and afterwards 
Methodists. 

Whatever effect obloquy might have upon some of the mem¬ 
bers of this select class, Mr. John Wesley, as well as his bro¬ 
ther, and several others, remained unshaken. He puzzled his 
opponents with questions concerning the reasonableness of hi3 
conduct. He did more; he confounded them by a uniform 
regularity of life, and an astonishing proficiency in his studies. 
Mr. Morgan, one of the most active members, was soon after 
this removed by death; occasioned, according to the repre¬ 
sentation of enemies, by fasting and excessive austerities. 
His character was drawn by Mr. Samuel Wesley, junior, in a 

Btic tribute to his memory, under this text, from the book of 



Wisdom, “We fools accounted his life madness.” In the 
spring of 1735, Mr. John Wesley was called to attend his 
dying father, who desired him to present to Queen Caroline, 
a book he had just finished. Soon after his return to Oxford, 
he went to London on this account, where he was strongly 
solicited by Dr. Burton, one of the trustees for the new colony 
at Georgia, to go there to preach to the Indians. At first, he 
peremptorily refused. He particularly mentioned the grief it 
would occasion to his widowed mother. The case being re¬ 
ferred to her, she is said to have made this reply: Had I 
twenty sons, I should rejoice that they were all so employed, 
though I should never see them more. His way appeared 
now plain; and he made arrangements for this enterprise. 
On Tuesday, October 14th, 1735, he set off from London for 
Gravesend, accompanied by Mr. Ingham, Mr. Delamotte, and 
his brother Charles, to embark for Georgia. There were six 
and twenty Germans on board, members of the Moravian 
church, with whose Christian deportment Mr. Wesley w r as 
much struck, and immediately set himself to learn the German 
language, in order to converse with them. The Moravian 
Bishop and two others of his society, began to learn English. 
He now began to preach extemporq, which he afterwards 
made his constant practice during his life, and yet he wrote 
much. 


METHODISTS. 


467 


The piety and devotion which Mr. Wesley and his compa¬ 
nions manifested during the voyage was highly commendable, 
and indicated a becoming impression of the importance of their 
undertaking; but, owing to some disagreeable circumstances, 
Mr. John Wesley returned to England, without having made 
much progress in the proposed object, and was succeeded by 
his valued friend Mr. George White field, who arrived at Sa¬ 
vannah on the 7th May, 1738, and was received by Mr. Dela- 
motte and many of Mr. Wesley’s hearers. It may be proper 
to notice the success which attended Mr. Whitefield’s labours 
in this quarter of the globe. He laboured with great zeal, and 
was honoured to be useful. He returned to England in the 
close of the same year to receive priest’s orders. On his re¬ 
turn to America in 1739, he landed at Philadelphia, and im¬ 
mediately began his spiritual labours, which he continued as 
he passed through the colonies of Virginia, Maryland, and 
North and South Carolina, being attended by considerable 
audiences. Upon his arrival at Savannah, die found the co¬ 
lony almost deserted, which moved him to carry into effect 
his scheme of building an orphan-house, which he had the 
happiness to see completed through his exertions, and the libe¬ 
ral donations of his friends. Upon his third visit to the west¬ 
ern continent, he took a voyage to the Bermuda Islands, where 
his ministry was successfully attended, and some contributions 
made for his orphan-house at Savannah. Upon his sixth 
voyage to Georgia, he received the thanks of the governor 
and principal people for the advantage which the colony had 
derived from his benevolent exertions, a circumstance which 
tends greatly to vindicate the character of this singular man, 
from the very unjust reproach of avarice which was frequently 
thrown upon him. In 1769, he made his seventh and last 
voyage to America; but, although his labours were so exten¬ 
sive, he formed no separate congregation. In the intervals of 
his visits to America, he frequently made tours to Scotland and 
Ireland, where he attracted numerous assemblies, and always 
made a powerful impression by his eloquence; but having 
differed in doctrinal sentiment from Mr Wesley, and never 
having formed the idea of a separate association of itinerants 
and of members, he can scarcely be considered as the head of 
any party. 

On the other hand, Mr. Wesley is considered the father of 
the Methodists. On his return to England, he was invited to 
preach in several churches, but the concourse of people who 
followed him was so great, that the churches in general were 
shut against him. His converts at length began to form them- 




468 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


selves into a little society, which has proved the germ of a re¬ 
ligious community more extended perhaps than almost any 
other, and surprisingly adapted by means of its regulations to 
increase and endure.* 

In respect to the principal doctrines of the Methodists, it 
may be observed, that they maintain the total fall of man in 

Doctrines Adam, a nd utter inability to recover himself, 
or take one step towards his recovery, “without 
the grace of God preventing him, that he may have a good 
will, and working with him, when he has that good will.” 

2. They are sometimes called Arminians, and hold general 
redemption. They assert “ that Christ, by the grace, of God, 
tasted death for every man.” This grace they call free , as 
extending itself freely to all. 

3. They hold Justification by Faith. “Justification,” says 
Mr. Wesley, “ sometimes means our acquittal at the last day. 
But this is altogether out of the present question ; for that jus¬ 
tification whereof our articles and homilies speak, signifies 
present forgiveness, pardon of sins, and consequently accept¬ 
ance with God, who therein declares his righteousness, or jus¬ 
tice and mercy, by or for the remission of the sins that are 
past, saying, I will be merciful to thy unrighteousness, and 
thine iniquities I will remember no more. I believe the con¬ 
dition of this is faith, (Rom. iv. 5, &c.) I mean, not only, that 
without faith we cannot be justified; but, also, that as soon as 
any one has true faith, in that moment he is justified. Faith, 
in general, is a divine supernatural evidence, or conviction, 
of things not seen, not discoverable by our bodily senses, as 
being either past, future, or spiritual. Justifying faith implies, 
not only a divine evidence, or conviction, that God was in 
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, but a sure trust and 
confidence that Christ died for my sins; that he loved me, and 
gave himself for me. And the moment a penitent sinner be¬ 
lieves this, God pardons and absolves him.” 

Mr. Wesley, speaking of the witness of the spirit, says, 
“ The testimony of the spirit is an inward impression on the 
soul, whereby the Spirit of God directly witnesses to my spirit, 
that I am a child of God; that Jesus Christ hath loved me, 
and given himself for me; that all my sins are blotted out, 
and I, even I, am reconciled to God. The manner how the 
divine testimony is manifested to the heart, I do not take upon 
me to explain. But the fact we know, namely, that the Spirit 
of God does give a believer such a testimony of his adoption, 

* New Edinburgh Enc. Art. Methodists. 



Prayer meeting and Exhortation. p. 471. 



Methodist Love Feast, p. 471 













































































































































































































































METHODISTS. 469 

that while it is present to the soul, he can no more doubt the 
reality of his sonship, than he can doubt the shining of the sun, 
while he stands in the full blaze of his beams.” 

4. The Methodists maintain, that, by virtue of the blood of 
Jesus Christ, and the operations of the Holy Spirit, it is their 
privilege to arrive at that maturity in grace, and participation 
of the divine nature, which excludes sin from the heart, and 
fills it with perfect love to God and man. This they denomi¬ 
nate Christian 'perfection* 

A number of societies, united together, form what is called 
a circuit. A circuit generally includes a large market-town, 
and the circumjacent villages, to the extent of 
ten or fifteen miles. To one circuit, two or three, ncui s. 
and sometimes four, preachers are appointed, one of whom is 
styled the superintendent; and this is the sphere of their labour 
for at least one year, but generally not more than two years. 
Once a quarter, the preachers meet all the classes, and speak 
personally to each member. Those who. have walked orderly 
the preceding quarter then receive a ticket. These tickets are 
in some respects analogous to the tesserae of the ancients, and 
answer all the purposes of the commendatory letters spoken of 
by the apostle. Their chief use is to prevent imposture. Af¬ 
ter the visitation of the classes, a meeting is held, consisting 
of all the preachers, leaders, and stewards in the circuit. At 
this meeting, the stewards deliver their collections to a circuit 
steward, and every thing relating to temporal matters is pub¬ 
licly settled. At this meeting the candidates for the ministry 
are proposed, and the stewards, after officiating a definite pe¬ 
riod, are changed. It is superior to a leader’s meeting, and 
is called a quarterly meeting. 

A number of these circuits, from five to ten, more or fewer, 
according to their extent, form a district, the preachers of which 
meet annually. Every district has a chqirman, who fixes the 
time of meeting. These assemblies have authority, 1. To try 
and suspend preachers who are found immoral, erroneous in 
doctrine, or deficient in abilities ; 2. To decide concerning the 
building of chapels; 3. To examine the demands from the cir¬ 
cuits respecting the support of the preachers, and of their fa¬ 
milies ; and, 4. To elect a representative to attend and form a 
committee, four days before the meeting of the conference, in 
order to prepare a draught of the stations for the ensuing year. 
The judgment of this meeting is conclusive until conference, 
to which an appeal is allowed in all cases. 

* Nightingale’s All Religions. 

40 


470 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


The conference, strictly speaking, consists only of a hundred 
of the senior travelling preachers, in consequence of a deed of 

Conference ^ ec ^ arat i on executed by Mr. Wesley, and enrolled 
in chancery. But, generally speaking, the con¬ 
ference is composed of the preachers elected at the preceding 
district-meetings as representatives; of the other superinten¬ 
dents of the districts; and of every preacher who chooses to 
attend; all of them (except the probationers) having an equal 
right to vote, &c. whether they belong to the hundred or not. 
At the conference, every preacher’s character undergoes the 
strictest scrutiny; and if any charge be proved against him, 
he is punished accordingly. The preachers are also station¬ 
ed, the proceedings of the subordinate meetings reviewed, and 
the state of the connexion at large is considered. It is the 
supreme court of the Methodists, over which there is no con¬ 
trol, and from whose decisions there is no appeal. The con¬ 
ference is held in London, at Leeds, Bristol, Manchester, and 
Liverpool, in rotation. 

Class Meetings are each composed of from twelve to twenty 
persons, one of whom is styled the leader. When they assem¬ 
ble, which is once a w T eek, the leader gives out a 

Class Meet- f evv verses 0 f a hymn, which they join in singing. 

° ‘ He then makes a short prayer; after which he 

converses with each member respecting Christian experience, 
gives suitable advice to all, and concludes by singing and 
praying. 

Band Meetings consist of about four or five members, who 
are nearly of the same age, in nearly similar circumstances, 

Band Meet anc ^ ^ same sex > w ho meet together once a 
ino-s. e week, in order to speak their minds more freely 
than it would be agreeable to do in a promis¬ 
cuous assembly of members, such as a class meeting. The 
meeting is conducted in nearly the same manner as a class 
meeting. At stated periods, those who meet in these private 
bands, meet all together, forming a public or select band, when, 
after singing and prayer, any of the members are at liberty to 
rise and speak their experience. After a few of them have 
spoken, the meeting, as usual, is concluded by singing and 
prayer. 

Watch-nights are rather similar to the vigils of the ancients, 
which they kept on the evenings preceding the grand festivals. 

Watch nights. T ^ey are once a quarter. On these occa¬ 
sions, three or four of the preachers officiate, and 
a great concourse of people attend. The service commences 
between eight and nine at night. After one of the ministers 


METHODISTS. 


471 


has preached, the rest pray and exhort, giving 1 out at intervals 
suitable hymns, which the congregation join in singing till a 
few minutes after twelve o’clock, when they conclude. 

Love feasts are also held quarterly. No persons are admit¬ 
ted who cannot produce a ticket to show that they are mem¬ 
bers, or a note of admittance from the superin- Love F a 
tendent. However, any serious person, who has °' e easts * 
never been present at one of these meetings, may be supplied 
with a note for once, but not oftener, unless he becomes a 
member. The meeting begins with singing and prayer. 
Afterwards, small pieces of bread, or plain cake, and some 
water, are distributed; and all present eat and drink to¬ 
gether, in token of their Christian love to each other. 
Then, if any persons have any thing particular to say con¬ 
cerning their present Christian experience, or the manner 
in which they were first brought to the knowledge of the truth, 
they are permitted to speak ; when a few of them have spoken, 
a collection is made for the poor, and the meeting is concluded 
with singing and prayer. This institution has no relation to 
the Lord’s Supper. The elements of the Lord’s Supper are 
bread and wine; but at the love feasts, bread and water only 
are used. The Methodists consider the former as a positive 
institution, which they are bound to observe as Christians; 
the latter as merely prudential. They have also numerous 
•prayer-meetings, at which it frequently happens‘that some one 
will give an exhortation to the people. 

The New Methodist Connexion , among the followers of 
Mr. Wesley, separated from the original Methodists in 1797. 
The grounds of this separation they declare to 
be church-government, and not doctrines, as af- .-New Method- 
firmed by some of their opponents. They object lsts ‘ 
to the old Methodists for having formed a hierarchy, or 
priestly corporation, and say that, in so doing, they have 
robbed the people of those privileges which, as members 
of a Christian church, they are entitled to by reason and 
scripture. The New Methodists have attempted to establish 
every part of their church-government on popular princi¬ 
ples, and profess to have united, as much as possible, the 
ministers and the people in every department of it. This is 
quite contrary to the original government of the Methodists, 
which, in the most important cases, is confined only to the 
ministers. This, indeed, appears most plainly, when their 
conference, or Yearly Meeting, is considered; for in this 
meeting no person, who is not a travelling preacher, has ever 
been suffered to enter as a member of it; and, indeed, this is 


472 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


the point to which the preachers have always steadfastly ad¬ 
hered with the utmost firmness and resolution, and on which 
the division at present entirely rests. They are also upbraid¬ 
ed by the New Methodists, for having abused the power they 
have assumed ; a great many of these abuses the New Method¬ 
ists have-formally protested against, which are enumerated 
in various publications, and particularly in the Preface to the 
Life of one of their deceased friends, Mr. Alexander Kilham. 
Hence these New Methodists have been sometimes denomi¬ 
nated Kilhamites. 

These are a disowned branch of the Wesleyan Methodists, 
originating in Staffordshire, England, under Hugh Bourne. 

Their first camp-meeting was held, May 31, 1807. 

Pamiu\ e commencec [ a t six o’clock in the morning and 
Ranters 1 . 8 ^ continued till eight in the evening. These camp- 
meetings being disapproved of by the old Con¬ 
nexion, a separation took place, when IT. and J. Bourne en¬ 
larged their views, and the cause spread in every direction. 
Societies were established at Boylstone, Todeley, and Hal- 
lington, in Derbyshire. A general meeting was held at 
Tunstall, Feb. 13, 1812, and a preparatory meeting at Not¬ 
tingham, Aug. 18, 1819, when arrangements were made for 
annual meetings; quarterly meetings have been held in March, 
June, September, and December, under which “the work 
mightily enlarged.” Missionary exertions, which had been 
declining, were revived at Belper “ very powerfully,” while 
“ the praying people, in returning home, were accustomed to 
sing through the streets of Belper!” It is added, that “this 
circumstance procured them the name of Ranters , and the 
name of Ranter, which first arose on this occasion, afterwards 
spread very extensively.” The work, we are told, then spread 
to Derby and Nottingham, whence circuits were established, 
one circuit having been hitherto sufficient for the connexion. 
The camp-meetings also had declined, but were thus revived. 

“ The declining state of the camp-meetings was severely 
felt in the circuit, and caused considerable anxiety; but as 
much prayer and supplication was made to Almighty God, 
he, in the year 1816, pointed out both the evil and the remedy 
by the following means: H. Bourne had put into his hand, 
4 The Narrative of a Mission to Nova Scotia, New Bruns¬ 
wick,’ &c., by J. Marsden, Methodist Missionary.” The au¬ 
thor, during his mission, visited New York, and attended 
several of the American camp-meetings. These meetings 
continue day and night, for several days together. He shows 
that they have sometimes four, and sometimes five preachings, 


METHODISTS. 


473 

/ 

in the course of twenty-four hours ; and the intermediate time 
is filled up with services carried on by praying companies, 
He says, “ During my continuance in this city, I had an op¬ 
portunity of attending several camp-meetings, and as the na¬ 
ture of these stupendous means of grace is not distinctly 
known, I will spend a few moments in making my readers 
acquainted with them. 

“ The tents are generally pitched in the form of a crescent, 
in the centre of which is an elevated stand for the preachers, 
round which, in all directions, are placed rows of planks for 
the people to sit upon, while they hear the word. Among the 
trees, which spread their tops over this forest-church, are hung 
the lamps, which burn all night, and give light to the various 
exercises of religion which occupy the solemn midnight hours. 
As it was nearly eleven o’clock at night when I first arrived 
on the borders of a camp, I left the boat at the edge of the 
wood, one mile from the scene, though the sound of praise 
from such a multitude, and at such an hour, in the midst of a 
solitary wilderness, is difficult to describe; but when I opened 
upon the camp-ground, my curiosity was converted into aston¬ 
ishment, to behold the pendant lamps among the trees—the 
tents half encircling a large space—four thousand people in 
the centre of this, listening with profound attention to a 
preacher, whose stentorian voice and animated manner carried 
the vibration of each wand to a great distance through the 
now deeply-umbrageous wood ; where, save the twinkling 
lamps of the camp, brooding darkness spread a tenfold gloom ; 
—all excited my astonishment, and forcibly brought before my 
view the Hebrews in the wilderness. 

“ The meetings generally begin on Monday morning, and 
on the Friday morning following break up. The daily ex¬ 
ercises are carried forward in the following manner: In the 
morning at five o’clock, the horn sounds through the camp, 
either for public preaching or prayer; this, with smaller exer¬ 
cises, or a little intermission, brings on the breakfast hour, 
eight o’clock. At ten, the horn sounds for public preaching; 
after which, until noon, the interval is filled up with little 
groups of praying persons, who scatter themselves up and 
down the camp, both in the tents and under the trees. As 
these smaller exercises are productive of much good, a power¬ 
ful spirit of prayer and exhortation is often poured forth. I 
have not unfrequently seen three or four persons lying on the 
ground, crying for mercy, or motionless, without any appa¬ 
rent signs of life, except pulsation. After dinner, the horn 
sounds at two o’clock ; this is for preaching. I should have 
40* 


474 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


observed, that a female or two is generally left in each tent, 
to prepare the proper materials for dinner, which is always 
cold meats, pies, tarts, tea, &c. (the use of ardent spirits being 
forbidden,) and a fire is kept burning in different parts of the 
camp, where the water is boiled. After the afternoon preach¬ 
ing, things take nearly the same course as in the morning, 
only the praying groups are upon a larger scale, and more 
scope is given to animated exhortations and loud prayers. 
Some who exercise on these occasions soon lose their voices, 
and, at the end of a camp-meeting, many, both preachers and 
people, can only speak in a whisper. At six o’clock in the 
evening the horn summons to preaching, after which, though 
in no regulated form, all the above means continue until morn¬ 
ing : so that, go to whatever part of the camp you please, 
some are engaged in them : yea, and during whatever part of 
the night you awake, the wilderness is vocal with praise! 

“At this camp-meeting, perhaps, not less than one hundred 
persons were awaked and converted to God. I have heard 
many say, that they never heard such praying, exhorting, and 
preaching any where else; and those who engage feel such a 
divine afflatus, that they are carried along as by the force of a 
delightful torrent; indeed, this has been so much the case 
with myself, the several times I preached and exhorted at these 
meetings, that I was sensible of nothing but a constraining in¬ 
fluence, transporting me beyond myself, carrying me along 
with a freedom and fulness, both of emotion and language, 
quite unusual, and yet I had no very friendly views of camp- 
meetings until I attended them; however, lam now satisfied 
that they are the right-hand of Methodism in the United 
States, and one main cause why the societies have doubled and 
trebled there within these few years.” 

The camp-meetings of the Ranters were first suggested, and 
then revived, by the camp-meetings held throughout several 
parts of the United States of America.* 

Methodism was introduced into the-United States about the 
year 1766, at which time a few Methodists came from Ireland 
. and established themselves in New York, 
the United* m P reac ^ ers were sent over in successive years by 
States. Mr. Wesley, and in 1773 the first regular con¬ 

ference was held in Philadelphia. In 1784 the 
Methodists in America became independent of those in Eng¬ 
land. At this time Mr. Wesley solemnly consecrated Thomas 
Coke as bishop j and having delivered to him letters of epis- 


* Evans’s Sketches. 


METHODISTS. 


475 


copal orders, commissioned and directed him to set apart 
Francis Asbury, then general assistant of the Methodist So¬ 
ciety in America, for the same episcopal office; he, the said 
Francis Asbury, being first ordained deacon and elder. In 
consequence of which the said Francis Asbury was solemnly 
set apart for the said episcopal office by prayer, and the impo¬ 
sition of the hands of the said Thomas Coke, other regularly 
ordained ministers assisting in the sacred ceremony. At 
which time the General Conference, held at Baltimore, did 
unanimously receive the said Thomas Coke and Francis 
Asbury, as their bishops, being fully satisfied of the validity 
of their episcopal ordination. 

The Annual Conferences of the Methodists in the United 
States are twenty-two in number. These assemblies consist 
of all the travelling preachers in full commu¬ 
nion, and ,no others. Without the election of an Con ~ 

annual conference no man can be ordained ' iencAb - 
either deacon or elder. These bodies, when preachers offer 
themselves for admission, receive them first on trial, and after¬ 
wards, if they choose, into full connexion and membership. 
In other words, each annual conference is a corporation, 
which perpetuates itself by the election of its own members, 
and into which there can be no admission in any other way. 
This body has also the exclusive right of sitting in judgment 
on the character and conduct of its members. No itinerant 
preacher can be permanently censured or silenced, except 
by the conference to which he belongs; and from their de¬ 
cision he can make no appeal, except to the general conference. 

The bishops, of whom there are at present six, are elected 
by the general conference, and are ordained “ by the laying on 
of the hands of three bishops, or at least of one o- j 
bishop and two elders.” To them it belongs to 
ordain elders and deacons ; to preside in the conferences, an¬ 
nual and general; to appoint the presiding elders, giving to 
each his district, and changing or removing them at discretion ; 
to assign to every preacher the circuit or station in which he 
shall labour, fora term not exceeding tw r o years in succession ; 
to change, receive, or suspend preachers, pro tempore , in the 
intervals of the conferences, as necessity may require, and the 
rules of discipline dictate; and, finally, to travel at large 
among the people, and “ oversee the spiritual and temporal con¬ 
cerns of the Church.” Presiding elders are assistant bishops, 
having each the special charge of a particular district; and 
each within his own district is, as it were, the bishop’s vice¬ 
gerent. 


476 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


It belongs to the travelling preachers to appoint all the class 
leaders within the circuit or station to which he is sent; and 
rr, he may remove them at pleasure. He also ap- 

Preachers. points the receivers of the quarterly collections, 
nominates the steward, and such exhorters as he 
thinks qualified. When a member is accused, the preacher 
in charge selects a committee, before whom the trial as to 
facts must proceed. If that committee, in which, of course, 
the preacher presides, finds the accused guilty, the appeal 
is not to the “ society,” the whole body of his brethren and 
equals, but to what is called the quarterly conference, con¬ 
sisting of all the travelling and local preachers, stewards, and 
class leaders, of the circuit. If the committee before whom 
the accused is tried in the first instance, finds him not guilty 
of the charge, he is not therefore acquitted; the preacher 
may send the whole matter up to the quarterly conference, and 
from that body the accused, if then condemned, has no appeal. 

The privileges and prerogatives of local preachers are of 
an inferior character. The local preachers in each district 
are assembled annually by the presiding elder, 

Local Preach- j w hat is called the district conference. This 
ers. 

body has power to license as preachers such 
persons as have been recommended by the quarterly conference; 
to recommend whom they choose to the annual conferences 
for ordination as deacons or elders “ in the local connexion,” 
or for admission on trial in the “travelling connexion;” and 
by them, local preachers, when accused, are to be tried as tra¬ 
velling preachers are tried by the annual conference, with the 
same right of appeal. 


SEC. X.-QUAKERS. 

The Quakers owe their origin to George Fox, who was 
born in Leicestershire about the year 1624. It is reported of 
him, that in his youth he was of a particularly 
melancholy temper, and loved to be by himself. 
At an early age he became apprentice to a shoemaker. While 
in this situation, he devoted himself with great diligence to the 
perusal of the scriptures, and, as opportunity presented, was 
wont to exhort his fellow shoemakers, from whom, however 
he received no great encouragement. As he was one day 
walking alone in the fields, reflecting according to custom on 
the disorderly lives of men, and considering of the properest 
means to reform them, for the glory of God, and their own 
temporal and eternal happiness; he thought he heard a voice 


QUAKERS. 


477 


from heaven, or rather he felt one of those sudden impulses, 
which the Quakers take for special motions from the Holy 
Ghost. This pretended voice, or impulse of the Spirit of 
God, set before his eyes a lively representation of the corrupt 
and abandoned lives of men, from their cradle to-extreme old 
age, at which time nothing is left to return to God, but weak 
and decayed senses, and a second childhood; exhorting him at 
the same time to retirement and an absolute separation from 
the general corruption of the world. This is the true epoch 
of Fox’s vocation: after this call from heaven, he lived in a 
closer retreat than before ; he searched narrowly into the state 
of his conscience; retrenched whatever he found superfluous, 
and followed his trade no further than was necessary for his 
subsistence. He went about preaching from place to place, 
and boldly entered into disputes with divines and ministers, 
trusting solely to and being guided only by that pretended 
divine voice, which interiorly speaks to the heart , and draws 
men as it pleases. This caused Fox to be looked upon as a se¬ 
ditious person ; on which account he was seized at Nottingham, 
in 1649, and imprisoned. This first imprisonment occurred 
when he was twenty-five years of age. On being released from 
Nottingham jail, he preached in other places, where he was 
roughly handled by the mob for his extravagant behaviour, 
and the boldness with which he interrupted the ministers in 
their sermons. At Derby, he was shut up for six months in 
a house of correction; and when he came out of it, in 
order to be examined by Jeremy Bennet, a justice of the 
peace, the name of Quakers was given to him and his dis¬ 
ciples, because, in his answers and public exhortations, he 
often said, quaking and trembling w-ere necessary dispositions 
to hear the word of God with profit. 

Nottingham and Derby were not the only places in which 
Fox was punished on account of his fanatical sallies; his want 
of good breeding ; his theeing and thouing ; his pretending to 
o-ive admonitions from heaven ; and other insufferable abuses 
committed by him; he had been cast into prison, and whipped 
in those towns; at other places he was put in the pillory, and 
underwent some punishments equally ignominious ; he was 
often stoned or beaten almost to death: but he endured all those 
affronts according to the literal sense of the gospel-precept; 
he desired the judges to order a second execution of the sen¬ 
tence pronounced against him; he presented his cheek and 
his back to those who had struck or whipped him; and in 
the midst of these temporal afflictions he rejoiced, and was 
comforted by the daily increase of the number of his adherents. 


478 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


Cromwell was soon acquainted with Fox’s reputation, 
and the progress of his sect: at first he despised them and 
their principles, not thinking a body of men, who preached 
and practised literally evangelical patience, who presented 
themselves to be beaten and abused, and who gloried in suf¬ 
fering for the love of God, could be of any use to him in the 
government of the state: but upon consideration, and per¬ 
ceiving how quickly that sect spread itself throughout the 
whole kingdom, his contempt turned to wonder. He employed 
the most pressing solicitations, he offered large sums of money 
to win over those enthusiasts to his interest, but without any 
success ; they were above corruption, and behaved like worthy 
disciples of the gospel; and forced that tyrant to praise this 
new species of men, whom he could not engage to his party 
by either gifts or favours, which means he had tried upon all 
other sects without ever missing his aim. 

The Quakers flattered themselves with the hope of enjoying 
some quiet at the restoration of Charles II., but refusing to 
take the oath of allegiance to that monarch, because in their 
opinion all oaths are forbidden, a grievous persecution was 
raised against them. While suffering these persecutions, they 
were considerably strengthened by the accession to their fra¬ 
ternity of the well known William Penn; who, on account of 
his talents and ample fortune, soon acquired no small influ¬ 
ence and reputation among them. About the same time also, 
the persecution against them abating, they employed them¬ 
selves in reducing their views to a more regular system, and 
in adopting rules according to which they were to govern 
themselves. These we shall briefly notice. 

Both sexes have general meetings, which may be called 
classes, colloquies, and synods. In those assemblies, which 
General are e ^ er provincial, and held every three 

Meetings. months, or general, and called together every 

year, censures are pronounced, ecclesiastical 
affairs reviewed, books examined, and the most material oc¬ 
currences registered in their records. In England the 
Quakers’ general meeting is fixed to the third day after 
Pentecost; not out of superstition, they say, as if they expected 
their deputies should be more particularly inspired at a time 
when the commemoration of the Holy Ghost’s coming down 
upon the Apostles is celebrated, but solely out of a principle 
of regularity in meeting on a fixed day, and at a convenient 
season; and it is notorious, that the Quakers keep no holy- 
days, and solemnize no festival. The Holy Ghost, the spirit 
within , neither knows nor admits anv such distinctions. De- 


QUAKERS. 


479 


puties from all the Quakers dispersed through the whole world, 
meet at these assemblies; in which there is a secretary to 
register, or propose the matters to be debated, or copy out the 
decisions: but the Holy Ghost is the invisible president: and 
they do not admit of a visible one. 

Their outward exercises of devotions consist in a profound 
contemplation, whilst some one of them, man or woman, rises 
up either with a sedate and composed motion, or in 
a kind of transport, as if actuated by an irresistible votl o Us ^ C De 
power, and often with sighs, groans, and tears. 

This variety of behaviour is caused, as they pretend, by the im¬ 
pression of the spirit, which often dictates to the man or woman 
preacher, sermons two or three hours long, after a deep and 
sullen silence of an equal duration has stupified those enthu¬ 
siasts. This spiritual lethargy, if we believe the Quakers, 
makes them enter into a serious consideration of the state of 
their own souls, into a deep meditation, by means of which 
the spirit prepares to itself hidden ways to penetrate into the 
hearts of the faithful; then it breaks forth in sermons and 
exhortations, or in prayer or psalmody: during which, those 
who are not inspired to speak, remain in a state of recol¬ 
lection, examine themselves, sigh and groan, and make a 
suitable application of what they hear to the circumstances in 
which they find their own souls. From that inward conflict 
of the spirit against the flesh ; from the devil’s furious assaults 
to keep the mastery, proceed sometimes those bodily motions, 
those shakings and tremblings, with which the faithful are 
seized, and which are now and then so universal, that, as Croesius 
relates it, the whole assembly-room has seemed to be agitated 
by an earthquake. It has likewise happened more than once, 
that the meeting was concluded without any sermon, exhor¬ 
tation, or public prayer; but the inward devotion was so much 
less interrupted. 

Meditation, prayer, recollection, contemplation, and reading 
the Bible, are the chief devotions which the Quakers use at 
home; they are longer or shorter, more or less 
frequent, and alternately diversified as the spirit voti ^ s at ^. c e ~ 
moves. Their children are brought up to those 
exercises from their infancy, have a very plain and modest 
education, without any ornaments, fine clothes, what is called 
a genteel behaviour, or endeavouring to please other men. 
The Quakers’ dress is brown, or of some plain dark colour, 
somew'hat like a waistcoat, without plaits on the sides, without 
buttons on the pockets or sleeves, their hats broad-brimmed 
and horizontal; all the politeness they aim at is an open frank 


480 


PROTESTANT COMMUN ITIES. 


Time of wor¬ 
ship. 


access, and natural easy conversation. They know not, says 
the author of the philosophical letters, how to draw one leg 
behind the other, or to carry in their hands what is made to 
cover their heads. 

They keep no festivals; but as every thing is done by them 
according to the motion of the spirit, they may meet on any 
day; in England and Holland they meet regu¬ 
larly every Sunday : they neither pray nor speak, 
either in public or private, with a loud voice, but 
when the spirit within bids them. If this spirit do not move 
them, they are only to think at church, at table, at going to 
bed. In'England also, being obliged by reason of the perse¬ 
cution to hide themselves, and for that end to meet in small close 
rooms, where, consequently, it often happened, that to prevent 
faintings, those of a weak constitution brought with them small 
vinegar, or Hungary water-bottles to smell to, the poor Qua¬ 
kers lay under the scandalous imputation of inspiring them¬ 
selves, and bringing down the spiritbythe strength of the liquor. 

The Quakers place no great value on the knowledge of 
languages and learning, which although they do not think en- 

Estimation tirely useless, yet they say, are not necessary for 
of knowledge, the ministry. The spirit speaks, and truly ac- 
titles, honours, cording to their system, that spirit wants neither 
&c ' philosophy, Greek, nor Hebrew, to understand 

the scripture and explain it to the people: they express a 
great contempt of philosophy and divinity, chiefly as taught 
in the schools, and esteem them no otherwise than as the in¬ 
ventions of Satan. 

They likewise reject all titles of honour, either in the state 
or in the church, and have no regard to academical degrees. 
All these marks of distinction are only apt to set up so many 
masters, which the gospel expressly forbids, we being all 
equally brethren : they give the name of hirelings to Pro¬ 
testant clergymen, on account of the income they receive 
from the lands they possess, from tithes, salaries, or pensions. 
And according to their system, it is evident they cannot ap¬ 
prove of a limitation in the number of ministers, nor of that 
function being appropriated to a particular order of men, since 
the spirit within is not and cannot be confined. Moreover, 
they think the number of pastors is too small to comply with 
all the duties required of them: and that there ought to be 
missionaries, who might, as amongst Catholics, labour without 
intermission for the propagation of the faith; and are of 
opinion, that the present behaviour of other Protestants in that 
particular, paves the way for antichrist. 




r:» 




..V 





> 



Quaker Worship, p. 479. 



Quaker Mariiage. p.483 









































































































































































































































QUAKERS. 


481 


Duties, taxes, great salaries, and profits, all other means 
employed in civil societies, to engage men to do their duty, 
and become useful members of the commonwealth, by the 
hope of considerable gains, seem odious and dangerous to 
the Quakers, as becoming only hirelings and slaves to avarice, 
not good citizens, or Christians, who ought to have their duty 
at heart. 

Amongst the Quakers the spirit is free, and does not submit 
to synods, nor to wordly learning, wisdom, or customs: this is 
one of the chief and most essential articles of ]y[ ot j on of 
their religion. All the members of the church t j ie Spirit. ° 
may and ought to concur to the general good of 
the body; all may have the same helps from the Holy Ghost, 
and feel the same impressions of his power; all are animated 
and fed, like our bodily members, by the same efficacy and in 
the same manner; all by consequence ought to give a helping 
hand to the edification of the mystical body, as natural mem¬ 
bers contribute to the welfare of human bodies. This they 
apply to the evangelical ministry: the spirit, say the 
Quakers, notifies by its impulse what is wanting to the 
church, and obliges those members upon whom he makes 
that impulse, to give a speedy help to the mystical body. If 
it should happen that out of laziness, neglect, or distraction, 
the person so moved, should not be sensible of the impulse, or 
not give, a due attention to the defects of which the members 
of the mystical body are guilty; then they ought to rouse 
themselves with new fervour, and by a perfect recollection, 
make a trial of the gifts and power of the spirit of life. The 
call to pastoral functions essentially consists in this, it requires 
no pomp, no ceremony, no improvement of the mind, no pre¬ 
paration, no examination, nor any of the means used in 
other Christian societies, to provide churches with pastors and 
teachers. Yet if after this inward trial any one be moved 
and forcibly drawn by the spirit to engage in the ministry, the 
ecclesiastical council must not omit the formality of examining 
whether the person so inspired be in reality fit for it, and 
ought to be admitted to that dignity ; the importance of which, 
in regard to himself, and to the whole church, is strongly re¬ 
presented to him, in a speech or exhortation made to that end: 
and in this manner, the pastors, and the assembly of the faith¬ 
ful Quakers, concur with the spirit to the election of the new 
minister, wffio thus is called and accepted. This ceremony is 
sometimes accompanied by the letters of other churches and 
societies of Quakers, recommending such or such to that 
office. When installed, they are maintained by voluntary con- 
41 


482 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


tributions only, without any settlement, contract, or previous 
agreement. Each Quaker contributes freely according to 
his power, and the minister is not to accept of their benevo¬ 
lence, further than is necessary for a sober and frugal main¬ 
tenance: but if he be reduced to poverty for want of such 
contributions, it is lawful for him to leave the congrega¬ 
tion which he served: he may even, according to their his¬ 
torian, shake the dust off his feet against that church, as 
Christ ordered his apostles to do against those who would not 
receive them. 

The Quakers reject baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The 
truth is, they look upon baptism as a Jewish ceremony, yet 
they are willing that other Christian societies 

Ba^ism^c 0 ^ s ^ ou ^ receive it as a token of regeneration, of 
ap isn , c. j n ]^ at j or)} or an introduction to Christianity. But 

they pretend, that in our holy and all spiritual religion, out¬ 
ward signs ought not to prevail upon duty, nor a wicked man 
be esteemed a Christian on account of his being baptized; 
whilst, for want of that ceremony, another man, who complies 
with all the Christian duties, is looked upon as a heathen. The 
true baptism of Christ, say they, is the purifying of the soul, 
and that only can save men. Their belief concerning the 
communion is also another stumbling block; and upon peru¬ 
sing their profession of faith about that article, most people are 
apt to repeat the exclamation of Voltaire, and to echo after 
him, What , no communion l The Quaker’s answer is, We 
have no communion , but the union of hearts. 

Marriage is contracted amongst them with as little cere¬ 
mony as all their other duties are performed. A Dutch Quaker, 

Marriage being reproved for the holy indifference which 
he pretended to, in paying a homage due to 
nature, gave this short answer, It is enough that necessity re¬ 
quires it. Nature gives the same bent to Quakers as to all 
other sects, all other religions; but they pretend to govern its 
unruly motions, and to make it act as being in them perfectly 
regenerate. Therefore their youth are christianly instructed 
in whatever concerns that honourable state; they are admo¬ 
nished that it is of the highest importance, that it requires a 
serious and strict examination, and is not to be entered into 
without a nice choice, much reflection, and the approbation 
and consent of their parents. When after all this, they per¬ 
sist in the resolution of marrying, they must give notice of 
their design to the ecclesiastical council, who make the usual 
inquiries, Whether they be qualified to marry? and have the 
consent of their parents? &c. Informations are likewise taken 


QUAKERS. 


483 


from those who are present, to know if no opposition be made 
to the marriage intended, and on the next Sunday following 
they publish a kind of ban. These preliminaries being over, 
the contract becomes valid amongst the Quakers in this form : 
The bride and bridegroom come to the assembly accompanied 
by the friends and relations whom they think fit to invite. 
There, in presence of the said friends and relations, they are 
desired to declare whether they love one another, whether 
they be mutually willing to have each other, and are resolved 
to help and assist each other. To these, and such other ques¬ 
tions suitable to the occasion, the Quakers give, with all 
sincerity, the usual answers: which, with their mutual con¬ 
sent, are registered in a book kept for that purpose. The 
contracting parties set their names to it, as also the friends and 
relations as witnesses j which being done, the new married 
couple are dismissed. The disorders usually committed at 
w r eddings, are, or ought to be, wholly unknown amongst 
Quakers. The body being, in their system, the vessel and 
garment of the soul, it must be maintained and kept with sim¬ 
plicity and modesty, without superfluity, or endeavouring to 
please the senses at the expense of the purity of the soul. Those 
marriages of the Quakers were heretofore deemed illegal in 
England ; but they are now tolerated, and looked upon as valid 
and indissoluble contracts. 

Their obsequies are without pomp, without funeral orations, 
all which, according to their notions, are as opposite to 
Christian simplicity, as the foolish diversions al- Funerals 
lowed by other Christians, at the celebration of 
their marriages. Can any thing be more extravagant, they 
say, than that the friends and relations of the deceased should, 
with a sorrowful countenance, follow^ his corpse, and accom¬ 
pany it to the grave in a mourning dress, and then come 
back to the house to drink, and sometimes get drunk in his 
honour'? What contrary proceedings are these ! is it not a 
mere comical farce to see their formal affected grief, seeming, 
in their long black cloaks, to shed tears for the loss of a pa¬ 
rent or friend, of w r hose death they are heartily glad, for the 
sake of the riches he has bequeathed to them ?• All those 
abuses are avoided by the Quakers. They carry the dead to 
their burying place, without attendance or mourning; and 
content themselves wuth a serious, meditation on the frailty of 
human life, and mutually exhorting each other to the practice 
of virtue, and to a faithful imitation of the deceased, if his ex¬ 
ample were truly worthy of being followed. 

Our limits admit of but a partial exposition of the faith of 


484 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


„. , the Quakers. The following are their principal 
articles of belief:— 

Every one who leads a moral life, and from the sincerity of 
his heart complies with the duties of natural religion, must be 
deemed an essentially good Christian. An historical faith and 
belief of some extraordinary facts, which the Christians own 
for truths, are the only real difference between a virtuous pagan 
and a good Christian, and this faith is not necessary to sal¬ 
vation. 

Christ is the true inward light, which enlightens all men. 
This is performed by an immediate inspiration, and not by the 
outward doctrine of the gospel, which Christ has preached to 
men as a rule of their belief and practice; which outward 
preaching of evangelical truths, is not the usual and ordinary 
method used by God to enlighten mankind; but he sends to 
each person interior inspirations. This interior light is the 
true gospel, it is to be adored as being Christ himself and God 
himself 

Scripture is not the true rule, the real guide of Christian 
faith and moral doctrine: this is a prerogative belonging only 
to the inward light, which each has within himself, or which 
breaks forth in the assemblies of the brethern or friends. The 
dead letter of the sacred writings, is not of so great authority 
as the preaching of the authors of them: the particular books 
which make up the scripture, were directed to private churches 
or persons, and we are not interested in them. 

The chief rule of our faith is the inspiration of the Holy 
Ghost, who interiorly teaches us; and the scripture is only a 
rule subordinate to that spirit. An immediate inspiration is 
as necessary to us as to the apostles : it teaches us whatever is 
necessary to salvation. The promise which Christ made to his 
apostles, to teach them all truth by his spirit , and that the Holy 
Ghost should always remain with them , was not confined to 
the apostles only, it belongs to all the faithful; and it is said of 
them all, that the unction shall teach them all things. 

All true ministers of Christ are as infallible in what they 
teach, as the prophets and apostles were: otherwise the spirit 
of Christ would not be infallible. All those who are filled 
with the gifts of the spirit are equally infallible, without 
which the infallibility of the Holy Ghost must be divided; 
there is no exterior way of teaching, which may help one to 
judge of the truth of the doctrine which he preaches. The 
immediate inspiration is sufficient to enable a minister to 
preach without scripture, or any other exterior helps. Without 
this particular inspiration all those who pretend to argue upon 


QUAKERS. 


485 


or explain the words of Christ, are false prophets and de¬ 
ceivers. The church ought to have no other ministers, but 
those who are called by an immediate inspiration, which is 
best proved by interior miracles, of which the outward signs 
were only a representation or figure. The Quakers do not 
preach a new gospel, and therefore need not work miracles 
to prove their doctrine: a visible succession of ministers or¬ 
dained, or otherwise established, is likewise of no use. 
Whoever is inwardly called to the ministerial functions, is 
sufficiently qualified for that post; inward scanctity is as 
essentially requisite in a true minister, as in a true member of 
the church. 

Women may preach with as much authority as men, and 
be ministers of the church; for in Christ there is no dis¬ 
tinction of male and female , and the prophet Joel has fore¬ 
told that women should have the gift of prophecy as well as 
men. 

The scripture no where says, that the Father, the Son, and 
the Holy Ghost, are three persons ; there are three several ma¬ 
nifestations ; but three persons would in reality be three gods. 
The scripture being silent as to the manner of the unity, and 
of the distinction in the Trinity, it is a great rashness in the 
Christian churches to meddle with deciding such intricate 
points. The distinction of persons in the godhead is a spe¬ 
culative subtlety, not calculated to mend our lives, and very 
prejudicial to Christian peace and charity. To draw up an 
exact profession of faith, it is necessary to adhere closely to 
the expressions used in scripture. 

The true Christ is he, who existed before he was mani¬ 
fested in the flesh, and who has never been seen with the eyes 
of the flesh. Jesus Christ, as God, has a heavenly humanity, of 
which the earthly one is but the outward garment, the type or 
figure. Jesus Christ, the Word and Son of God, did not per¬ 
sonally unite himself to our human nature, he only took it as 
a suit of clothes, which he was to put on for a while. This 
human nature was inspired, as other men, but in a superior 
and more particular degree. Christ could not be united to a 
corrupt nature; his interior birth within men, is a greater 
mystery than his outward nativity. The faith in and the 
knowledge of Christ, according to the flesh, and of his mys¬ 
teries, were but the first elements fit for the infancy of Christ¬ 
ianity, which being over, those rudiments become useless ; we 
now have learned to be in Christ, to become new creatures, 
to let old things pass away in order to make room for the new. 

The expiation of our sins has not been merited by the out- 

41* 


48 6 


PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES. 


ward spilling of Christ’s blood, which was not more precious 
than that of any other saint: neither has the church been re¬ 
deemed by it, but by an inward and spiritual blood, which pu¬ 
rifies our hearts and consciences, of which the scripture says, 
it was spilt for our justification ; lastly, of which Christ him¬ 
self says, that he who does not drink his blood shall not have 
life in him. 

The scripture does not say that Christ satisfied the justice 
of God for our sins. As God may without any injustice for¬ 
give our sins without such a satisfaction, it was not necessary, 
neither can it be reconciled with the gratuitous remission of 
our sins: and moreover, God’s punishing his own son, who 
was innocent, is contrary to divine justice. 

Christ did not go up to heaven with the body which he had 
on earth, which is not now in heaven at the right hand of God. 
It is an erroneous opinion to think or believe that the body of 
Christ, which is in heaven, occupies and fills any particular 
limited place: the body of Christ is wherever his spirit is; 
and it cannot save us, if distance of place separates it from 
us : whoever preaches a doctrine opposite to these propo¬ 
sitions, is a false minister, and deceitful teacher: the same 
gift of discernment in the examination of spirits, which was 
bestowed on the apostles, remains still in the church. 

Our sins being once forgiven, it is wholly unnecessary to 
repent of them any further, or to go on in asking forgive¬ 
ness for them. We cannot become God’s servant’s unless we 
be first purified. 

Outward baptism is not an ordinance of Christ, or at least 
not to be observed as a perpetual law. Whoever pretends that 
Christ’s order is to be understood of water-baptism adds to the 
text, which does not mention water. The baptism enjoined by 
Christ is a baptism of spirit, not of wafer. The water-baptism 
was St. John’s and has been abolished. St. Paul says he was not 
sent to baptize, but to preach. Water-baptism was used by 
the apostle’s only as a toleration for the weakness of the Jews, 
but it can do no good to the soul. Baptism by inspersion is no 
where mentioned in scripture. Water-baptism, and the spirit¬ 
ual baptism, are two entirely different baptisms. The inward 
baptism alone is the true baptism of Christ. 

Children ought not to be baptized, since they are not capa¬ 
ble of taking any engagement upon themselves, or of making 
a profession of faith, or of answering to God according to the 
testimonyof a good conscience. 

Taking or receiving the Eucharist is not a perpetual obli¬ 
gation ; it was instituted heretofore only for those who \Vere 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


437 


tewly converted to the Christian religion, or for weak Chris* 
lans in the beginning of their Christianity. 


PART V. 


RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS OF PAGAN 
NATIONS AND TRIBES. 

SEC. I,-RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS OF THE 

CHINESE. 


It is scarcely possible to give a distinct account of the reli¬ 
gion of China, and to class its numerous superstitions under 
appropriate heads. It is indeed pretended, by Difficult to 
some writers on the subject, that the ancient re- give an ac- 
ligious system of the Chinese has continued count of the re- 
unchanged amidst all the corruptions, which ligi° n °f China, 
have been grafted upon it during many successive ages; 
that this system is found to agree, in its most essential parts, 
with that of the Israelites, before the giving of the law by Mo¬ 
ses ; and that it may be traced back, by means of regular 
traditions, even to the renewal of the human race, by the 
grandsons of Noah. It is affirmed, on the contrary, by an 
intelligent traveller of England, that the primitive, religion of 
China no longer exists, or exists only in a most corrupted 
state; that there is at present, no national, nor scarcely any 
state religion in the empire j and that the articles of faith are 
as various as the modes of worship. All that we can attempt, 
therefore, amidst these discordant opinions, is to present our 
readers with a short view, first, of the principal religious sys¬ 
tems, which have been introduced into China at different pe¬ 
riods, as far as can be ascertained from their own historical 
records; and next, of their present religious observances, as 
far as these have been described by later travellers in that 
country. All accounts of the religious opinions and ceremo¬ 
nies of the Chinese, previous to the time of Confucius, are 
mixed with fable, and full of uncertainty. Indeed, as their 
best existing historical documents must be regarded as his 





488 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


productions, and are at least ascribed chiefly to his pen by the 
Chinese themselves, none of the allusions to religious prac¬ 
tices, which are to be found in the earliest period of their his¬ 
tory, can be considered as resting upon any authority more 
ancient than his. But, as the Chinese affirm the greater por¬ 
tion of their canonical book, Shoo-king, to have been composed 
long before the age of Confucius, and to have only been re¬ 
stored by his labours, we may proceed upon this idea, and 
consider the tenets expressed in this work, as the ancient re¬ 
ligion of China. 

In this view of the subject, their primitive creed seems to 
have contained the general doctrines of theism, with regard to 

Primitive ^ le Supreme Being, whom they worshipped un- 
Q reoc j 1 der various names, such as, Tien or Kien, hea¬ 
ven, Shangtien, supreme heaven , Shang-tee, su¬ 
preme Lord , and Hoan-shang-tee, sovereign and supreme 
Lord. This Supreme Being they regarded as possessed of 
all natural and moral perfections, as exercising a minute and 
judicial providence over mankind, as rewarding virtue and 
punishing vice, even in this life, as sending calamities to warn 
and reform the offender, and as ready to relent, and pardon 
him upon his repentance. The first worship instituted in 
honour of the Shang-tee, consisted in prayers, accompanied 
with sacrifices or gifts, offered upon some natural eminence, or 
artificial mount, or merely in the open fields, upon an altar 
called tan , composed of a round heap of earth, or of a quantity 
of stones thrown together in a round form. At a very early 
period, however, of their history, we find them associating 
with the Shang-tee, or Supreme Being, a multitude of tutelary 
spirits as objects of worship, under the name of Shin, or Kooey- 
shin. In succeeding periods arose a multitude of supersti¬ 
tions ; and the wind, the rain, the thunder, diseases, &c. were 
all, in like manner, personified, and addressed as divinities, 
while warriors, emperors, and illustrious mep, became demi¬ 
gods. The people forgot the simple worship of the Shang- 
tee, and embraced every new invention of idolatry with the 
utmost avidity. 

The most ancient of the religious sects, which have, at 
different periods, engrafted their superstitions upon the primi¬ 
tive theological system of China, is that of the 
Tao-tse, or sons of immortals, which was founded 
by a philosopher, named Lao-kiun, or Lao-tse, 
who was born in the province of Honan, about 600 years be¬ 
fore Christ, and concerning whose birth a multitude of strange 
stories are circulated among his countrymen. His followers, 


Sect of Tao- 
tse. 


CHINESE. 


489 


named Tao-tse, therefore, place the supreme duty and felicity 
of man in a state of perfect tranquillity, recommending' the 
suppression of all violent desires and passions, the utmost 
moderation in every pursuit or enjoyment, and an utter indif¬ 
ference with regard to the past, the present, or the future. 

This sect became particularly powerful under the dynasty 
of Song ; and one of the emperors of that race carried his su¬ 
perstitious reverence for a celebrated teacher 
among them to such a length, as to command secf*^ 
him to be worshipped under the name of Shang- 
tee, which had hitherto been appropriated to the Supreme 
Being. The sages of the nation were so greatly shocked by 
this act of impiety, that they predicted the ruin of that dynasty 
as fast approaching; and the wiser part of the learned men 
frequently presented strong remonstrances to different empe¬ 
rors against the patronage, which was bestowed upon these 
deceivers; but the sect of the Tao-tse continued to increase in 
power and numbers, under the protection of princes, the coun¬ 
tenance of the great, and the credulity of the people ; and has 
preserved its extensive influence even to this day, in spite 
even of all the attempts of the celebrated Confucius to intro¬ 
duce more enlightened doctrines. 


Confucius, or Kong-foo-tse, was born 550 years before 
Christ, and is regarded by the Chinese as the chief of their 
wise men, and as the author of their whole civil c • 
constitution. He endeavoured to restore the an¬ 
cient system, and to improve the conduct of his countrymen, 
by exhorting them to obey the commands of heaven, to love 
their neighbours, and to restrain their passions. Some of his 
philosophical principles are, that out of nothing there cannot 
any thing be produced ; that material bodies must have existed 
from all eternity; that the cause or principle of things must 
have had a co-existence with the things themselves ; that this 
cause, therefore, must also be eternal, infinite, and indestruct¬ 
ible ; and that the central point of influence, from which this 
cause chiefly acts, is the blue firmament, (tien,) whence its 
emanations are spread over the universe ; but neither he nor 
his disciples ascribe tp the deity any personal existence, or re¬ 
present the first cause under any distinct image: while the 
sun, moon, stars, and elements, are considered also as com¬ 
posing the firmament or tien, as the immediate agents of the 
deity, and as the productive powers in creation. The uni¬ 
verse, in short, according to this philosopher, is one animated 
system, made up of one material substance, and of one spi¬ 
ritual being, of which every living thing is an emanation, and 


490 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


to which, when separated by death from its particular material 
part, every living - thing again returns; hence the term death 
is never used by his followers, but they say of a person, at his 
decease, that he has returned to his family. Thus he taught 
that the human body is composed of two principles, the one 
light, invisible, and ascending, the other gross, palpable, and 
descending; that the separation of these two principles causes 
the death of human beings; and that, at this period, the light 
and spiritual part ascends into the air, while the gross and 
corporeal matter sinks into the earth. He taught, further, that 
the spirits of those, who had performed their duty in life, were 
permitted to revisit their ancient habitations, and such places as 
might be appointed for receiving the homage of their descend¬ 
ants ; that they have the power of conferring benefits upon 
their posterity; that it was thus the indispensable duty of 
every man to perform the sacred rites to the memory of his 
ancestors; and that, whosoever neglected this duty, would be 
punished, after death, by his spirit being rendered incapable 
of visiting the hall of his ancestors, and receiving the homage 
of his descendants. Besides the performance of these sacred 
rites to the memory of ancestors, the principal religious wor¬ 
ship which he required, was, that the prince, in the name of 
his people, should present offerings to the tien, particularly at 
the two equinoxes, for the purpose of obtaining a propitious 
seed-time and a plentiful harvest; but, at the same time, that 
the deity is always best satisfied when men perform the moral 
duties of life, which he comprised chiefly in these two, viz. 
filial piety towards parents, and unreserved obedience to the 
will of the emperor. With these tenets was naturally con¬ 
nected a belief of good and evil genii, and of tutelary spirits 
presiding over families, towns, mountains, and other places ; 
and while the system of Confucius was little better than atheism 
in the mind of the philosopher, it became a source of gross 
idolatry among the people, who could not comprehend the 
more refined notions, but, needing some visible object upon 
which to fix their attention, represented the tutelary spirits by 
images, and worshipped them by sacrifices. Confucius him¬ 
self was much addicted to a species of divination or fortune¬ 
telling, and says expressly in one of his works, that the wise 
man ought to know future events before they happen, and that, 
this may be done by means of lots. His tenets, in short, instead 
of overcoming the old errors, gave rise to new superstitions ; 
and the chief difference between the proper followers of Con¬ 
fucius and those of Lao-tse, is this, that the former inculcate the 
duty of living among men, and endeavouring to improve them ; 


CHINESE. 


491 


while the latter avoid every kind of society and occupation, 
and lead a frugal retired life, as their only felicity. 

During the reign of the Emperor Ming-tee, of the Han dy¬ 
nasty, a new superstition was introduced into China, whose in¬ 
fluence is perhaps still more extensive and per¬ 
nicious in that country, than any of those by ‘ ect Fo ’ 
which it was preceded. One of the Tao-tse doctors had pro¬ 
mised to a brother of the emperors, that he would open to him 
a communication with the spirits ; and this superstitious prince 
having heard of a spirit in Tien-tso, or Hindostan, named Fo, 
or Foe, prevailed upon the emperor, by his importunities, to 
send an embassy for this foreign divinity. When the officer, 
who was entrusted with this mission, arrived at the place of 
his destination, he found only two Sha-men, or priests of Fo, 
whom he carried to China, with some of their canonical books, 
and several images of the idol painted on linen. The followers 
of'Fo describe him as the son of a prince of one of the king¬ 
doms of India, near the line; and affirm, that as soon as he 
was born he stood upright, walked seven steps without assist¬ 
ance, and pointing to the heavens with one hand, and to the 
earth with the other, cried aloud, “ in the heavens and the 
earth there is none but myself who deserves to be honoured.” 
At the age of seventeen, he married three wives, by one of 
whom he had a son, named by the Chinese Moheoo-lo; but 
at the age of nineteen he abandoned his house and family, with 
all the cares of life, and committed himself to the care of four 
philosophers, with whom he retired to a vast desert. Being 
filled with the divinity at the age of thirty, he was metamor¬ 
phosed into the Fo, or Pagod, as the Indians term it, and im¬ 
mediately thought of establishing his doctrines by miracles, 
which attracted numerous disciples, and spread his fame over 
every part of India. 

When he had attained his seventy-ninth year, and per¬ 
ceived from his infirmities that his borrowed divinity could 
not exempt him from mortality, he is said to Tenets of Fo. 
have called his disciples together, and to have 
declared to them, that hitherto he had spoken to them by 
figurative expressions, but that now he would discover his 
real sentiments, and unveil the whole mystery of his wisdom, 
namely, that there is no other principle of things but a vacuum, 
or nothing; that from this nothing all things at first sprung ; 
that to nothing they shall again return ; and that thus end all 
our hopes and fears at once. After his decease, a multitude of 
fables were propagated concerning him by his followers, such 
as, that he was still alive, and had been born 8000 times, ap- 


492 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


pearing' successively under the figure of an ape, a lion, a dra¬ 
gon, an elephant, &c. His last words excited much dissension 
among his disciples, some of them resolving to adhere to his 
original tenets, others adopting his concluding atheistical view 
of things, and a third class attempting to reconcile both sys¬ 
tems together, by making a distinction between the external 
and internal doctrine. The internal doctrine, to which the 
disciples of the idol are exhorted to aspire, is a system of the 
most absurd atheism; of which some of the principal tenets 
are, that nothing is the beginning and the end of all things ; 
that all beings are the same, differing only in figure and qua¬ 
lities ; that the supreme happiness of man consists in acquiring 
a resemblance to this principle of nothing, in accustoming him¬ 
self to do nothing, to will nothing, to feel nothing, to desire no¬ 
thing; that the sum of virtue and happiness is to be found in in¬ 
dolence and immobility, in the cessation of bodily motion, the sus¬ 
pension of all mental faculties, the obliteration of all feelings and 
desires; that when men have attained this divine insensibility, 
they have nothing to do with virtue or vice, rewards or punish¬ 
ments, providence or immortality, no changes, transmigrations, 
or futurities to fear, but have ceased to exist, and become per¬ 
fectly like the god Fo. The external doctrine has the greatest 
number of followers. It teaches a great distinction between 
good and evil, and a state of rewards for the good, and of pu¬ 
nishment for the wicked, after death, in places suited to the 
spirits of each. It acknowledges the transmigration of the 
soul through different bodies, till it is at length completely 
purified and prepared to be united to the Deity. It affirms, 
that the god Fo came upon this earth to expiate men’s sins, 
and to secure them a happy regeneration in the life to come. 
Its practical injunctions are simply these: To pray to the god 
Fo, and to provide his priests with temples and other necessa¬ 
ries, that by their penances and supplications they may pro¬ 
cure for his worshippers the forgiveness of their sins; and to 
observe five precepts, viz. to kill no living creature—to take 
nothing that belongs to another—to commit no act of impu¬ 
rity—to utter no falsehood—and to drink no wine. The 
practice of these duties is enforced by threatenings of future 
punishment, especially of transmigration into the bodies of 
dogs, horses, rats, serpents, &c. In consequence of this doc¬ 
trine, a multitude of idols have sprung up wherever the reli¬ 
gion of Fo has prevailed; and temples have been erected to 
quadrupeds, birds, and reptiles, of every description, according 
as the god was imagined to have occupied any of their bodies 
in the course of his transmigration. 
















Puzza, a goddess of the Chinese, p. 499. 



Qtfack Jugglers in China who pretend to sell the wind. p. 508. 

















































CHINESE. 


493 

Fo is supposed to have lived 500 years before the time of 
Pythagoras; and from his followers the Grecian sage is con¬ 
jectured to have learned the doctrine of the me- ^ 

tempsychosis, when he travelled in India. The c ' 

worship of Fo was introduced into China A. D. 69; and is 
understood to have been originally the same as that of the In¬ 
dian Buddha, from the evident coincidences between the his¬ 
tory and worship of the two divinities. The Buddha of the 
Hindoos was the son of Ma-ya, and one of his names is Amita. 
The Fo of China was the son of Moy-a, and one of his names 
is Om-e-to, or, as it is pronounced in Japan, Amida. The 
Menshin, or guardian spirit of the door in China, is the same 
as the Ganesa of Hindostan ; and in both countries, his figure, 
or at least the character expressing his name, is painted on the 
door of almost every house. The Lui-shin, or spirit of thunder 
of the Chinese, represented under the figure of a man with the 
bealr and talons of an eagle, is equivalent to the Vishnu of the 
Hindoos, who is generally figured as riding upon an eagle, or 
at least attended by that bird; and it is noticed as a curious 
circumstance, that the same reason is assigned by the Chinese 
for giving an eagle’s face to this idol, which Pliny adduces for 
the consecration of that bird to Jupiter, viz. that there is no 
instance known of an eagle having been killed by lightning. 
So, Hai-vang, king of the sea, represented in China as reposing 
on the waves with a fish in his hand, corresponds with the 
Hindoo Varuna riding on a fish ; and the Indian Ganga, or 
goddess of the Ganges, has an exact counterpart in the Shing- 
moo, or holy mother of the Chinese. 

Between the followers of Lao-tse and of Fo, which have 
always been the two prevailing sects in China, Contests bc 
the greatest rivalship and enmity have constantly tween lbe 
subsisted, which frequently extended to persecu- above sects, 
tion and bloodshed. Whenever the court or 
principal eunuchs appeared to favour the one in preference to 
the other, the more powerful sect at the time commenced hos¬ 
tilities against its opponent. These contests, however, were 
confined to the priests of the two religions ; and the people 
either remained neutral, or took no active part in the quarrel, 
which was seldom terminated but by the levelling of monas¬ 
teries to the ground, and the slaughter of some thousands of 
priests on both sides. Since the accession of the Tartar dy¬ 
nasty, no particular preference or distinction has been shown 
to either of them; and indeed, except that the priests of Lama 
are paid and supported by the Tartar government, as a part of 
tlie imperial establishment, and that the principal Tartar ofh* 

42 


494 


PAGAN. NATIONS. 


cers are attached to their tenets, (separated from the absurdi¬ 
ties grafted upon them by the Tao-tse,) the government gives 
no particular support to any religious sect whatever. 

About the year of Christ 1070, under the dynasty of the Song,- 
several learned men applied themselves to interpret the sacred 

The system books called King; and one of them named Shao- 
ofShao-kang- kang-tse, distinguished by his superior erudition, 
tse, or sect, of became the founder of a new system. He taught 
the Literati. p rs t a jp t } lat t p e wor ld had a beginning, and 

will come to an end, when it will be again produced, and 
again destroyed, in endless succession. Fie fixed its duration 
at 129,600 years, which he divided into twelve periods, each 
containing 10,800 years. In the first of these, the heavens 
were gradually created by the motion which the Tay-kee 
impressed upon matter,-which had hitherto remained immove¬ 
able ; in the second, the earth was produced in the same de¬ 
liberate manner; in the third, men and the other living crea¬ 
tures began to come into existence ; and so on to the eleventh 
period, when all things shall be destroyed, and the world shall 
return into the state of chaos, from which it shall not again be 
evolved till the end of the twelfth period. x\bout the year 1400, 
the Emperor Y ong-lo, of the Ming dynasty, commanded several 
learned men to combine the principles of Shao-kang-tse into a 
system, by interpreting the books of Confucius and Meng-tse, 
called King. In this work they gave the name of Tay-kee 
(or great height) to the cause of all things, although this word 
is not to be found in the writings of Confucius or Meng-tse; 
but, from a passage in one of the commentaries of the former 
philosopher, they profess to derive those tenets, that Tay-kee 
is separated from the imperfections of nature, is an existing 
being, and the same with the heaven, the earth, and the five 
elements; that when he moves, he produces Yang, that is, 
subtle and active matter, such as the heavens, fire, day, that 
which is perfect and of the male sex; that, when he rests, he 
produces Yn, that is, gross and motionless matter, such as the 
earth, the moon, darkness, that which is imperfect and of the 
female sex; that, by the union of these, are produced eight 
elements, which, by their various combinations, form the pecu¬ 
liar and distinguishing nature of all bodies, the vicissitudes of 
the universe, the fertility or barrenness of the earth, &c. 
From these and similar mysticisms, the partisans of Tay-kee 
went on in their speculations, till they ended in atheism, by 
excluding from the world every supernatural cause, and ad¬ 
mitting only an inanimate virtue or energy in union with 
matter. In their system of morals, they adopted more rational 


CHINESE. 


495 


principles; directed the wise man to make the public good the 
great object of his actions, and to extinguish his passions, that 
he may follow the light of reason ; and explained the recipro¬ 
cal duties of princes and subjects, of parents and children, of 
husband and wife. 

None of these different systems can be said to be the pre¬ 
vailing creed in China; or, what is more remarkable, can be 
found existing pure and distinct from the rest. 

The greater part of the Chinese have no decided r ^~ 

opinion whatever on the subject, and are either Chinese 16 
complete atheists, or, if they acknowledge a Su¬ 
preme Being, utterly ignorant in what view he ought to be 
regarded; while they all combine with their peculiar senti¬ 
ments the multifarious superstitions of the more popular sects. 
Of all these tolerated and established religious persuasions, the 
emperor is the supreme head ; without whose permission not 
one of them can enjoy a single privilege or point of pre-emi¬ 
nence ; and who can diminish or increase, at his pleasure, the 
number of their respective temples and priests. 

The existing worship of China, then, is a confused mixture 
of superstitions, of which individuals receive and observe just 
as much as they please; and those parts of it, which the go¬ 
vernment seems to uphold, may be viewed rather as political 
than religious institutions. The emperors reserve to them¬ 
selves the privilege of adoring the Tien, but they equally sa¬ 
crifice to the spirit of the earth, the sun, or the moon, and attach 
themselves more or less to the notions of the Tao-tse or of Fo. 
While the reigning Tartar family acknowledge more particu¬ 
larly the faith of the Grand Lama, they nevertheless perform 
the established sacred rites of their predecessors, and repair to 
the festivals which the calendar prescribes. And, while the 
literati study the doctrine of the King, they are as superstitious 
as unbelieving, and are found with others in the temples pray¬ 
ing to the idols.* 

There are two sorts of ceremonies instituted by the Chinese in 
commemoration of Confucius; one of which consists entirely in 
prostrating themselves and striking the ground Honours a - d 
nine times with their foreheads before a certain t0 Confucius. 
cartridge , or little picture, which is placed on a 
table encircled with lighted wax candles and divers incense 
pots, on which the name of this celebrated philosopher stands 
conspicuous in capitals. In former times, they paid this testi¬ 
mony of their respect to the statue of Confucius; but their 


* New Edinburgh Ency. Art. China. 


496 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


emperors perceiving that the people ran blindly into idolatry, 
and being unwilling that Confucius should be reckoned 
amongst the number of their idols, caused this cartridge to be 
substituted in all their schools, in the room of the statues ot 
the philosopher. The mandarins perform this ceremony when 
they take possession of their respective posts, and the bache¬ 
lors of arts when they take their degrees. The governors ot 
all their cities, and all the Literati, are obliged once in fifteen 
days to pay these public honours to Confucius in the name ot 
the whole nation. 

In regard to the worship paid to Confucius, the sect of the 
Literati differs widely from that of Fo, &c., in which the Bonzes 
only are the priests and sacrificators ; but among 
thesect°of S the ^ ie Literati, it is the peculiar province of the 
Literati. mandarins, viceroys, and even the emperor him¬ 

self, to offer up sacrifices in honour of Confucius 
and their ancestors. What may be properly called the reli¬ 
gious worship of Confucius, consists in some peculiar testimo¬ 
nies of their veneration, and some oblations made before a 
tablet or a pyramid, which is gilt all over, and deposited in a 
ceremonial manner on an altar. On this tablet is written the 
following inscription in characters of gold : Here is the throne 
of the soul of our most holy and most illustrious 'prime minis¬ 
ter Confucius. The sacrifice does not consist barely in de¬ 
voting to his service, bread, wine, wax-tapers, and perfumes; 
for they present him frequently with a sheep and a piece of 
taffety, which they set on fire in commemoration of him. All 
these ceremonies are solemnized in an edifice consecrated to 
Confucius, not as an academy set apart for the examination of 
young students, or their advancement in thearts and sciences, no 
business of that nature being there transacted ; on the contrary, 
censers, candlesticks, and tables, are placed in the form of al¬ 
tars, and in short, all other implements and materials proper 
for the decoration of a temple. The model of these chapels is 
exactly the same as that of the temples of their idols, and the 
name which they give them in the Chinese language, signi¬ 
fies a temple. 

Their most solemn sacrifice, in commemoration of their an¬ 
cestors, is celebrated on the fourteenth day of August. “ This 
ceremony,” says Father Moralez, who was an 

Sacrifice to e y e witness of it, “was performed in a temple, 
ieu anC6S 01:5 over the door of which were written these two 
words, Kia Cheu, the temple of the forefathers , &c. The 
pavement was all of porcelain clay; the temple was wain¬ 
scoted all round, and adorned with pillars, &c. There were 


CHINESE. 


407 


three porticoes, fronting different ways, and beyond them was 
a kind of a yard. There were two steps likewise to go up to 
the temple. Six tables had been prepared for the sacrifice, on 
which were set meats ready dressed, and raw flesh, with fruits, 
flowers, and perfumes, which were burnt in divers little cha¬ 
fing-dishes. 

“ At the upper end of the temple were the inscriptions of 
their ancestors artfully disposed, and each in its proper niche. 
The images of their grandfathers were fastened on each side 
to the walls. In the yard, several carpets were spread on the 
ground, upon which lay large heaps of papers, cut in the 
shape of the coin of their country, which they imagined would 
in the other world be converted into real money, and passing 
current there, serve to redeem the souls of their relations. In 
short, in one corner of the yard, they had erected a large 
tree, the bottom of which was surrounded with brushwood, or 
chips, which were set on fire, and burnt during the celebra¬ 
tion of the sacrifice, in order that the souls of their dead might 
be accommodated with sufficient light. 

“ The licentiati, who assisted at this sacrifice, were dressed 
like doctors on a solemn festival. One of them officiated as 
priest, two others as deacon and sub-deacon, and a third as 
master of the ceremonies. Several other doctors performed 
divers other ministerial offices, as that of acolytes, &c. Those 
who had not taken their doctor’s degree, appeared in their best 
clothes, all regularly ranged and divided into divers choirs at 
the lower end of the temple on each side of the doors. The 
sacrifice began after the following manner: as soon as the 
priest was seated with his two assistants on each side of him, 
upon a carpet that covered the entire middle of the yard, the 
master of the ceremonies ordered, that all the congregation 
should fall down upon their knees, and prostrate themselves 
to the ground; then he ordered them to rise again, which 
was accordingly done with great decency and order. The 
priest and his attendants with great gravity approached the 
place of the inscriptions and images of their dead, and perfu¬ 
med them with frankincense. The master of the ceremonies 
then ordered to be offered up the ivine of blessing and true 
happiness. At the same time, the attendants gave the wine to 
the priest, who took up the chalice with both his hands, ele 
voted it, then set it down again, and emptied it. The priest 
and his assistants then turned their faces towards the congre¬ 
gation. He who officiated as deacon, pronounced, with an 
audible voice, all the benefits and indulgences, which those 
who were present might expect as the result of their attend- 
42* 


493 


FAGAN NATIONS. 


ance. Know ye , saj^s he, that all you who have assisted at this 
solemn sacrifice , may be very well assured of receiving some 
'particular favours from your deceased ancestors , in return 
for these grateful oblations , which you have in this public 
manner now made unto them. You shall be honoured and , 
respected by all men , live to a good old age , and enjoy all the 
blessings which this life can afford. After this declaration, 
they set fire to their whole store of paper-money, and so the 
sacrifice concluded.” These ceremonies, it must be allowed, 
bear some affinity to several made use of by the Roman Ca¬ 
tholics ; but we shall, in this instance, merely notice, that the 
Chinese, before they go into the temple to sacrifice to their 
ancestors, utter three dreadful groans, as if they were just ex¬ 
piring. 

The whole formulary of this worship is set down in the 
Chinese ritual, with the prayers and supplications, which ought 
to be made to their deceased ancestors. Nothing, in the opi¬ 
nion of the Chinese, can be more efficacious, and have a more 
prevailing power, than these acts of devotion. The merits of 
the dead, according to them, are so great, that they may with 
justice stand in competition with those of Heaven itself. They 
imagine, that their souls sit for ever on the right and left hand 
of the Divine Majesty. In a word, it is on the due perform¬ 
ance of this religious worship that the Chinese ground all 
their expectations of future happiness. They flatter them¬ 
selves, that by virtue of these testimonies of their veneration 
for their ancestors, they, their descendants, shall be possessed 
of innumerable blessings. 

Temples are also built in all the cities of China, in comme¬ 
moration of the first five emperors, also of some other illus- 

Temples. tr i° us men, and their public benefactors. When 
their emperors die, they are immediately deified, 
and honoured as gods; for it is pretended, that after their 
decease they obtain the power of aiding and assisting all those 
who make their supplications to them. Although they do 
not admit, that whilst living they possess that power, yet they 
have their picture or tablet in their temples, which is revered 
according to the same manner as those of their ancestors, and 
on which is written in large characters, May the Emperor of 
China live many thousands of years. They sacrifice and bow 
the knee before this inscription. 

They imagine the genius called Chin-hoan, to be the 
guardian deity of their provinces, cities, and courts of judica- 

Chin-hoan. ture ’ and temples are erected to his honour, 
throughout the whole empire. The mandarins, 






CHINESE. 


499 


when they take possession of any important post, are obliged 
in the first place to do homage to the Chin-hoan of that pecu¬ 
liar city or province, which is committed to their care, and to 
take a formal oath, that they will faithfully discharge the trust 
reposed in them, and consult him about the most effectual 
means to perform their duty with success. This homage 
must be repeated twice a year, under the penalty of being dis¬ 
carded, in case of their neglect. These Chin-hoans are much 
the same as guardian angels ; but the Chinese acknowledge a 
divinity in them inferior to that of the first principle, although 
they admit, at the same time, that formerly they were men as 
well as themselves. 

The Chinese pay divine adoration to the sun, moon, and 
stars, and ascribe to a certain Causay , not only the govern¬ 
ment of the lowest part of the heavens, but like- Oei ies 
wise the power of life and death. There are 
three ministering spirits, who are subservient to him, viz. 
Tanquam , Tsuiquam, and Teiquam. The first sends down 
his rain to refresh the earth, the second is their Neptune, or 
god of the sea, and the last presides over births, is the director 
of all their rural concerns, and their god of war. The god¬ 
dess Quo-nin presides over all their household affairs, and the 
products of the earth. They represent her with an infant on 
each side of her ; one of them holding a cup in his hand, and 
the other having his hands closed one within another. Chang- 
ko is the goddess whom the bachelors of the sect of the Lite¬ 


rati particularly worship, as the Greeks and the Romans did 
Minerva. The idol or deity, which presides over mirth and 
voluptuousness is called Ninifo, who is looked upon as a Xin, 
and worshipped as such by the devotees; though he presides 
equally over criminal, as well as innocent diversions. They 
have also a Spirit, which is the grand tutelar genius of China, 
that presides over immortality, and which in all probability is 
no other than their god of war, of whom we have already 
spoken, or Kito, whom the Chinese soldiery honour as their 
patron. Finally, we must not omit to mention Lin-cing, whose 
peculiar province, however, we areata loss to determine; 
and Hoaguam, who presides over the eyes, 

Puzza, who is always represented sitting on a flower of the 
lotos, or rather, according to Kircher, upon a turnsol, is called 
by him, the Isis, or Cybele of the Chinese. 

“ She has sixteen hands, every one of which is 
mysteriously armed with knives, swords, halberts, books, 
fruit, plants, wheels, goblets, vials,” &c. The following is 
the traditional history of this deity, as given by the Chinese 


500 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


bonzes. Three nymphs in the days of yore came down from 
heaven to wash themselves in a river. They had scarcely 
got into the water, before the herb called Vesicari appeared 
on one of their garments, with its coral fruit upon it. and they 
could not imagine whence it could have proceeded. The 
nymph was unable to resist the temptation of tasting such 
charming fruit, but became pregnant by indulging her cu¬ 
riosity, and was delivered of a boy, whom she took care of till 
he was of age, then left him to pursue the dictates of his own 
inclinations, and returned to heaven. He afterwards became 
a great man, a law-giver, and a conqueror. “ The learned 
amongst the Chinese ascribe to Puzza, such a number of 
arms,” says Kircher, “ in all probability to insinuate, that she 
is the mother of all the gods ; and she is seated on a flower of 
the lotos, surrounded with water, to denote, that as this herb is 
always in the water, and swimming on its surface, so by the 
assistance of this element, nature contributes towards the pro¬ 
duction and fruitfulness of all things.” 

The god, idol, or genius, known by the name of Quante- 
cong was the founder of the Chinese empire, the inventer of 
~ 4 'Several of their arts, and their great lawgiver. 

He introduced the custom oi wearing decent ap¬ 
parel amongst the Chinese, who before went almost naked; 
he brought them under some regulation and form of govern¬ 


ment, and prevailed on them to reside in towns, &c. Such 
useful and extraordinary inventions entitled him to a stature 
larger than the generality of mankind ; and they have repre¬ 
sented him accordingly as a prodigiously strong giant. 

We now come to treat of their dragons, which have a con¬ 
siderable share in the superstitious worship of the Chinese. 

Worship of The arms and ensigns of the empire are compo- 
Dragons. sed of dragons. The Chinese make representa¬ 
tions of them upon their apparel, books, and linen, and in their 
pictures. Fohi, the inventor of sixty-four several symbols, 
first established this superstitious regard for dragons. He 
thought it requisite, with a view only of giving a sanction to 
these symbols, by which he attempted to render his system 
efficacious, to call in the marvellous to his aid and assistance. 
Fohi accordingly assured the populace, that he had seen these 
symbols upon the back of a dragon, that rushed suddenly upon 
him from the bottom of a lake. “ This emperor,” says Father 
Martini, “ rather made choice of the dragon than any other 
creature whatsoever, because it is looked upon amongst the 
Chinese as the most propitious omen. The emperor’s dra¬ 
gons were represented with five talons to each foot. If any 


CHINESE. 


£01 


other person thought fit to make use of this animal as a sym¬ 
bol, he was charged on pain of death to represent it with no 
more than four.” Whether Fohi was the first that inspired 
them with this superstitious regard for the dragon, or whether 
he found the superstition previously established, it is at least 
evident, that it is of a very ancient standing amongst the Chi¬ 
nese, although not by any meaiis to be justified. The Chinese 
not only imagine, that the dragon is the source and fountain 
from whence flows all the good that ever befalls them; but 
that it is he who bestows rain and fair weather upon them in 
their seasons ; it is he, who thunders in the clouds, and rides 
in the whirlwinds. The superstition of searching with inde¬ 
fatigable industry and vast expense the veins of this enormous 
beast, when they dig their sepulchres, is owing to the conceit 
that the good or ill-fortune of their families entirely depends 
upon it. 

The Bonzes are the priests of the Fohists, and it is one of 
their established tenets, that good and evil are not blended nor 
huddled together in the other world, but that, 
after death, rewards are prepared and allotted 1KSts > c - 
for the righteous, and punishments for the wicked. The 
other tenets of the Bonzes are, make charity your habitual 
practice; treat us with reverence and respect; maintain and 
support us as well as you are able; erect monasteries and 
temples for us, that our prayers and voluntary penances may 
deliver you from those punishments, which your sins have 
deserved ; burn all the gilt paper and silk clothes you can 
procure; for in the other world, they will be converted into 
real gold and silver, and apparel, and will be faithfully deli¬ 
vered to your deceased parents for their sole use and property. 
Unless you comply with these injunctions, you will be cruelly 
tormented after death, and be subject to an endless train of 
disagreeable transmigrations. You shall be transformed into 
rats, mice, asses, and mules. 

Some of the Chinese monks are dressed in black, and have 
their chaplets like those of the Roman Catholics; but they 
must not be confounded with the other Bonzes. There aro 
others likewise, who are dressed in yellow from head to foot, 
and furnished, as the former, with a large chaplet. These 
two colours distinguish the two different orders of monks, who 
are sectaries of Lanzu. These monks, like those of the Ca¬ 
tholic Church, always go abroad, two and two together. The 
Bonzes, according to Father Le Comte, are no better than a 
gang of dissolute .die fellows, whom indolence, hunger, and 
ease, prompt to herd together, and live upon the charitable 





502 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


contributions of well-disposed persons. All their aims are to 
excite the populace to commiserate their abject condition. The 
same father gives us a particular account of their several tricks 
and impostures. When they find the common arts of address 
fail them, they have immediate recourse to public acts of 
penance, which are always looked upon as highly meritorious 
by the unthinking populace, and effectually move their pity 
and compassion. Of this gang are those, who drag heavy 
chains after them thirty feet long, and go from door to door, 
often repeating in a drawling canting tone, “ It is by these 
austere penances that we make atonement for your sins ” 
And those likewise who plant themselves in the most public 
places of resort, and in the highways, to receive the charity of 
those who pass by them, knocking their heads against large 
flint stones till their imposture proves successful. Others set 
some particular drugs on fire upon their heads, to attract the 
eyes of the crowd upon them, and excite their compassion. 
Those likewise may very justly be reckoned amongst the 
number of mendicant devotees, whose heads have been wilful¬ 
ly deformed and moulded, on purpose, into a conical form. 
They appear in the streets and highways with a large chaplet 
about their necks, and are reckoned by the vulgar as extraor¬ 
dinary saints. There are other monks, however, of the Men¬ 
dicant order, who beg in public, without being guilty of any 
such self-violence. 

Another way of raising contributions for the Chinese monks 
is, by prevailing on those who pass by to write their names in 
a kind of memorandum-book which one of them offers to 
their benefactors for that purpose. Amongst this order may 
likewise be reckoned those vagabonds, who amuse the public 
with their legerdemain. There are some of them, who with 
undaunted courage will get on the backs of tigers tamed for 
that purpose, and ride from town to town, and place to place, 
without the least apprehension of danger from those savage 
beasts, though they are neither bridled nor fettered. These 
impostors have always a large retinue of mendicants, who 
act the part of the devotees, and penitents, and who bestow on 
each other severe blows on the head, by way of devotion. 

Among this mendicant crew, there are some who live like 
hermits, retired in rocks and caverns; for whom the devotees 
make large voluntary contributions, and consult them, as they 
would an oracle. As the Chinese encourage and support 
several distinct orders of these pious drones, so there are va¬ 
rious kinds of discipline observed amongst them. Some are 
collected into a society, live in cloisters, and in a state of celi- 



CHINESE. 


503 


bacy; being obliged to abstain from flesh, fish, wine, and wo¬ 
men. They are maintained oat of the annual revenue, esta¬ 
blished by the government for the support of all convents in 
general, and by the charitable contributions of the people. 
Some of these monks are, however, sufficiently diligent and 
ingenious to maintain themselves by their own manual opera¬ 
tions ; the other monks are extracted from the very dregs of 
the populace, who, in their infancy were sold for slaves, and 
who in all probability constitute, out of their despicable body, 
the major part of the before-mentioned vagabonds. One pe¬ 
culiar employment of the Bonzes, who are Fohists, is to at¬ 
tend and assist at all funeral solemnities; whilst those of the 
sect of Lanzu take upon themselves the office of exorcists, 
pretend to find out the philosopher’s stone, and -to foretel all 
future events. 

There are four several orders of this sect of Lanzu, who are 
distinguished by four several colours, viz. black, white, yellow, 
and red. They have one principal, or general, who has seve¬ 
ral provincials, subordinate to, and dependent on him, and 
they live upon the established revenue, and the charity of the 
devotees. When they beg about the streets, they repeat some 
peculiar prayers, which the devotees pay for the advantage of, 
viz. an absolute remission of all their sins. These priests or 
monks are assistants likewise at all funeral solemnities. They 
are enjoined not to marry during the time they keep their 
solemn vow; but by way of recompense, they have the privi¬ 
lege of abandoning it, whenever they think it convenient. 

A monk, who is found guilty of fornication, during the time 
of his vow, is punished most severely They bore a hole in 
his neck with a hot iron, and thrust a chain through the 
wound, of about sixty feet long, and in that deplorable condi¬ 
tion, and naked as he was born, lead him all over .the city, 
till he has collected a considerable sum of money, for the sole 
service of the convent to which he belongs. Another monk 
who follows him, lashes him severely, whenever he offers to 
lay hold of the chain to mitigate his pain. 

Independently of the Bonzes, there are some nuns, who 
make a vow of perpetual virginity. These female devotees 
have their heads closely shaved, but their number is incon¬ 
siderable, in comparison with that of the monks. The latter 
(at least such among them as are of the sect of Fo) are obliged 
to let their beards and hair grow. The monks of the sect of 
Lanzu, or Fo, and both of them, in all probability, assume the 
power of calling down the rain at pleasure, and are obliged to 
perform it when required. Dapper, in his extracts relating to 







504 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


China, tells us, that a Bonze, who undertakes that it shall rain, 
is threatened hard to be bastinadoed, if he fail of producing 
rain within six days. 

The feast of the Lanterns is the most remarkable of the 
Chinese festivals. This is celebrated the fifteenth day of the 
_ „ T first month; every one sets out some lantern, or 

tems ' another, but of various prices, according as their 

circumstances will best admit; some of them are 
valued at ten thousand crowns, on account of the decorations 
about them, and are from twenty-five to thirty feet in diame¬ 
ter. They are a kind of halls, or spacious apartments, in 
which they can make sumptuous entertainments, take their 
rest, receive visits, act plays, and have balls and assemblies. 
These lanterns are illuminated with an infinite number of 
wax-candles, and surrounded with bonfires. The Chinese 
ascribe the rise of this festival to an unhappy misfortune, which 
happened in the family of a certain mandarin, whose daughter, 
as she was walking one evening on the bank of a river, fell in 
and was drowned. The disconsolate father ran to her assist¬ 
ance attended by all his domestics. In order to find her, he 
put out to sea, with a vast number of lanterns along with him. 
All the inhabitants of the place followed him with lighted 
flambeaux. The whole night was spent in search after her; 
but, alas! to no manner of purpose. The only consolation 
the mandarin had, was to find himself beloved, .and that his 
neighbours were officious to assist him. The year following, 
on the same day of the month, bonfires were made upon the 
river side, &c. This ceremony was annually observed; and 
at that time, every one lighted up lanterns, till by degrees it 
grew into an established custom. Others ascribe the origin 
of this Chinese festival to an extravagant project of one of 
their emperors, who formerly proposed to shut himself up with 
his concubines in a magnificent palace, which he erected on 
purpose, and illuminated with pompous lanterns, that he might 
have the pleasure, if we may credit the Chinese history, of be¬ 
holding a new sky, as a canopy over his head, for ever illu¬ 
minated, always calm and serene, which might make him for¬ 
get in time the various revolutions of the old world. These 
irregularities caused an insurrection amongst his subjects, 
who demolished his costly and magnificent palace; and in 
order to transmit to posterity the remembrance of his shame¬ 
ful conduct, hung out the lanterns all over the town. This 
custom was annually repeated, and in process of time became 
an established solemn festival. 

The Festival of Agriculture, the establishment of which is 



A Chinese Begging Friar, p. 502. 



Begging devotees of China and Jugglers mounted on tame Tigers. 


p. 502. 

























































CHINESE. 505 

ascribed to an emperor, who flourished about a hundred and 
eighty years before the nativity of our Blessed Festival of 
Saviour, is celebrated likewise with considerable Agriculture, 
solemnity. In every town throughout the whole 
empire, when the sun is in the middle of Aquarius, “one of 
the chief magistrates being crowned with flowers, and sur¬ 
rounded with musicians, and a crowd of people, provided with 
lighted flambeaux, streamers, and colours, marches in proces¬ 
sion out of the eastern gate of the city. Several persons fol¬ 
low him, who carry on levers, various images composed of 
wood and pasteboard, set off' and embellished with silk and 
gold, representing the ancient histories that relate to agricul¬ 
ture. The streets are hung with tapestry, and beautified with 
triumphal arches. The magistrate then advances to the east, 
as if he were going to meet the new' season, when a kind of 
pageant appears, in the form of a cow, made of burnt clay, of 
such an enormous size, that forty men are scarcely able to carry 
it; and on the back of it sits a beautiful boy alive, who repre¬ 
sents the genius of husbandry in a careless dress, with one 
leg bare, and the other covered with a kind of buskin. This 
youth never ceases from lashing the cow. Two peasants, 
loaded with all the various implements made use of in tillage, 
march immediately after him. All these ceremonies are em¬ 
blematical. The incessant lashes, which the youth gives the 
cow, denote the constant application which is required for all 
rural labours ; his having one leg bare, the other buskined, is 
the symbol of their hurry and diligence, which scarcely af¬ 
fords them time to dress themselves, before they go to work. 
As soon as this magistrate is arrived with his pompous reti¬ 
nue of attendants at the emperor’s palace, all the flowers and 
other embellishments, with which the monstrous cow is dress¬ 
ed, are taken off; after that, her belly is opened, from whence 
several little cows, composed of the same materials, are taken 
out, which the emperor distributes amongst his ministers of 
state, in order to remind them of the care which is requisite 
in all affairs relating to husbandry, and to admonish his sub¬ 
jects never to let any piece of ground lie fallow, and to avoid 
idleness, which is the inlet to all misfortunes. On this day 
they are encouraged to the practice of industry, by the royal 
example of the emperor himself, who according to the ancient 
practice, made the bread, which was peculiarly appropriated 
for the service of their sacrifices, out of that part of the harvest, 
which he had gathered in with his own hands. 

The Chinese celebrate likewise their New-year’s day with 
considerable pomp, and sumptuous preparations. At that time 
43 






506 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


New Year’s ^ere * s a P er ^ ect cessation from all manner of 
Day. business; the posts are stopped, and all their 

courts of judicature throughout the empire are 
shut up. The Chinese call these vacations the shutting up their 
seals , because at that time they lock up the seals which belong 
to each particular court in a strong box kept for that purpose. 
Every body then makes merry, and partakes of the general joy. 
As the Chinese are superstitious to the last degree, in respect to 
the observance of particular days, they are obliged to make a 
formal choice of one day for shutting up their seals, and ano¬ 
ther for opening them again. The mathematical court, the 
members of which are the proper intendants of their lots, and 
choice of days, settle and determine the affair of their seals 
some considerable time before their new year commences. 
The choice and determination made by this court are commu¬ 
nicated in due time to all the provinces ; so that this peculiar 
ceremony of shutting up and opening the seals is performed 
on the very same day throughout the whole empire. The 
Chinese on this grand festival of their new year, take parti¬ 
cular care to bring out their gods, and plant them as commo- 
diously as may be, over their respective doors. These idols 
are called their Portal Gods; and though this custom be ob¬ 
served indeed for the most part on all their festivals, yet it is 
more particularly practised at this season than at any other. 

The pyramidical towers h-ave always, according to the rela¬ 
tions of Father Kircher, Le Comte, Dapper, and several other 
p ^ historians, some pagodadjacent to them; for which 

s ' reason there is a communication between the 
celebrated porcelain tower, and the edifice, which the Chinese 
have distinguished by the title of the Temple of Remembrance. 
There is sueh a variety of these temples, that they are almost 
innumerable. The Bonzes, and other persons of the same 
stamp, reside in them, and live either on the settled revenues 
of them, or on such other emoluments as their art and indus¬ 
try can procure. They are likewise appointed for the accom¬ 
modation of travellers; and as such, bear a very near affinity 
to the Turkish caravansaries. The inner part of the temple 
is embellished with several images and idols ; some of which 
are their real deities or genii; and others only symbols or 
hieroglyphics, after the manner of the Egyptians. The walls 
of these pagods are generally made hollow, and full of little 
niches, for the more convenient situation of their idols, which 
are mostly represented in basso relievo. The pagod is illu¬ 
minated with a vast variety of lamps, which hurn night and 
day in honour of the dead. In the centre stands an altar, and 


CHINESE. 


507 


on the table belonging to it an idol of gigantic size, to which . 
the temple is peculiarly devoted. This monstrous idol has 
several others of a more moderate size, who stand round him, 
in the quality of guards. In general, a hollow bamboo, which 
is both long and thick, and encloses several lesser ones, on 
which are written divers predictions in Chinese characters, is 
placed before the principal idol. Censers, in which incense 
is for ever burning, are placed on each side of the altar. At 
the front of it is a wooden bowl, for no other use but to receive 
their oblations. The altar is painted all over with a beautiful 
red, which colour is appropriated to those things only which 
are sacred. 

It is in one of the pagods that the Emperor himself offers 
up his sacrifices with extraordinary pomp and magnificence. 
No procession that is ever made in Europe is g acr fi ces 
more grand and solemn, than this public act of the ^peror, ° 
the emperor’s devotion. Four and twenty trum¬ 
peters, dressed with large golden rings or hoops, four and 
twenty drummers, four and twenty officers with varnished 
or gilt staves, one hundred soldiers with rich and magnificent 
halberts, a hundred mace-bearers, and two principal officers, 
march before him. This kind of van-guard is followed by 
four hundred lantern-bearers, four hundred link-men, two 
hundred lance-bearers, adorned with large locks of silk, four 
and twenty standards, on which are painted the signs of the 
zodiac, and fifty-six other signs, which represent the celestial 
constellations. After them two hundred large gilt fans are 
carried, embellished with the figures of dragons and other li¬ 
ving creatures; four and twenty large magnificent umbrellas, 
and after them, his imperial majesty’s buffet, supported by his 
gentlemen-officers, the whole furniture of which is solid gold. 

At the close of this pompous march the Emperor himself 
appears on horseback, dressed in the most gorgeous apparel, 
surrounded with ten white sumpter horses, whose trappings 
are all embellished with gold and p-recious stones, attended by 
a hundred guards, and several pages of honour. An umbrella 
is held over the head of the Emperor, which secures him 
fromall the injuries of the weather, and is embellished with all 
the costly curiosities, that the most lively imagination can 
possibly devise. Several princes of the blood, and mandarins 
of the first order, and other persons of the highest quality and 
distinction, dressed in their robes of state, follow his imperial 
majesty. After them march five hundred young noblemen, 
attended by a thousand footmen, thirty-six porters bearing on 
their shoulders an open chair, like a triumphal car, a hundred 


503 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


and twenty other porters bearing a covered chair, four chari¬ 
ots, some drawn by elephants and others by horses. Each 
chair and chariot is attended by fifty servants all richly 
dressed, and all the elephants as well as the horses are ca¬ 
parisoned with the most magnificent housings. 

The whole procession is closed by two thousand mandarins, 
and two thousand military officers. As there is no variation 
in this pompous solemnity, and as every one is fully apprised 
that the ceremony will always be celebrated in the same pom¬ 
pous manner, the Emperor is at no extravagant expense to sup¬ 
port the grandeur of it; so that whenever he is disposed to per¬ 
form his public sacrifices, his subjects in general are always 
ready to attend him. 

Independently of the almanacks, calendars, and other little 
books, which their juggling empirics impose upon the devo- 

Divination teeS) old women, as infallible guides 

for their future conduct, there are others who 
treat of divination by numbers, circles, and figures, by palm¬ 
istry, dreams, and physiognomy. Some of these vagabonds 
pretend to instruct the female sex, how to have children soon 
and with success. Others profess to sell the wind, as it is 
practised in the north of Sweden, &c. These last-mentioned 
quacks hunt always in couples. One of them with a very 
grave and demure countenance carries on his right shoulder a 
bag, in which his airy commodity is inclosed, out of which he 
delivers, at the price agreed on, such a quantity as the credu¬ 
lous purchaser imagines he shall have occasion for. In his 
left hand he carries a hammer, with which he strikes the 
ground in a formal manner, in order, as he pretends, to make 
the genius or spirit of the wind ascend, who, if you give credit 
to their assertions, rides conspicuously in the air in a human 
shape, borne on the wings of some bird of note. 

The ceremony, as it is instituted and appointed by the Chi¬ 
nese ritual, for the conjuration or raising up of spirits, consists 

r . . in pouring a certain quantity of wine on the 

of Spirit^ 1011 % ure °f a man composed of straw. But nothing 
can be more whimsical than the manner in which 
they consult their domestic idols. They take two little sticks, 
on one side flat, and on the other round, and tie them fast to¬ 
gether with thread ; and having made their humble supplica¬ 
tions to the idol, with all imaginable fervency and devotion, 
they throw the sticks down before it with a full assurance 
that their petitions will be graciously heard and answered. If 
they accidentally fall on the flat side, they then expostulate 
with their god ; however, they proceed to cast the lots a 


CHINESE. 


509 


second time 5 and it on this repetition, they prove as unsuc¬ 
cessful as before, they resent their ill treatment, and proceed 
from words to blows. Notwithstanding all this, they are sel¬ 
dom discouraged, but cast their lots over and over again, till 
at last they prove propitious. Sometimes they throw these 
little sticks into a pot, and after they have drawn them out, 
consult some book of conjuration, to know whether their lots 
be fortunate or unfortunate. 

There are other divinations of the Chinese which consist in 
a curious inquiry into the motion of tortoises, the flight and 
noise of some particular birds, the various cries or sounds of 
beasts, their accidental rencounters in a morning, &c. Several 
who profess themselves adepts in these superstitious practices, 
reside in solitary dens, and gloomy caverns. These people, 
however, do not make prognostications their sole study and 
employment, for they are very assiduous in their search after 
the philosopher’s stone, in the composition of philtres, and 
other secrets, equally pernicious. 

The Chinese, when they are determined to marry, have not 
the liberty to consult their own inclinations. They are 
obliged to declare their intention to their rela- . 

tions, or to some old women, who make it their aiua c e - 

trade (if the expression may be allowed) to be match-makers, 
and who are well paid for their deceitful offices. The wed¬ 
ding day having arrived, the bride is carried in a chair of 
state, preceded by several musicians, and followed by the 
bridegroom and several relations. The bride brings no 
other portion than her wedding-garments, with some other 
clothes, and a few household-goods. The bridegroom attends 
her to his own door. He opens the chair of state, in which 
before she was closely shut up, and conducting her into a pri¬ 
vate apartment, recommends her to the care of several ladies 
invited to the wedding, who spend the whole day together in 
feasting, and other innocent amusements, whilst the bridegroom 
follows the same example amongst his male friends and ac¬ 
quaintance. 

Gentil informs us, that the young ladies receive their por¬ 
tions from their future husbands, one part of which is paid 
down, on the execution of the marriage articles, and the other 
a little before the nuptials are solemnized. The bridegroom, 
moreover, in addition to this dowry, makes several valuable 
presents of silks, fruits, wine, &c. to the relations of his mis¬ 
tress. The intended bride and bridegroom never see each 
other till their nuptials, which are always carried on by 
match-makers, and are fully concluded on both sides, so that 
43* 


MO 


FAGAN NATIONS. 


nothing remains to complete them but the wedding ceremon 3 f . 
When that is over, the bridegroom, after several particular 
ceremonies, presents a wild duck to his father-in-law, whose 
servants carry it directly to the bride, as a further pledge and 
testimony of the bridegroom’s love and affection. After this, 
both parties are introduced into each other’s company, for the 
first time; a long thick veil, however, even then conceals the 
beauty or deformity of the bride, from the eyes of the bride¬ 
groom. “ They salute each other, and on their knees with 
reverence, adore the heavens, the earth, and the spirits. After 
this, the bride’s father gives an elegant entertainment at his 
own house; the bride then unveils her face, salutes her hus¬ 
band, who examines all her features, with the utmost atten¬ 
tion. She waits with fear and impatience to know the result 
of his accurate survey, and endeavours to read in his eyes the 
opinion he has formed of her. He salutes her in his turn, 
and after the bride has kneeled down four times before him, 
and he twice before his bride, they both sit down together 
at table. Meanwhile, the father of the bridegroom gives a 
sumptuous entertainment to his friends and relations, in another 
room; and the bride’s mother, in the same manner, enter¬ 
tains her female relations, and the wives of her husband’s 
friends, in her own apartment. After these repasts are over, 
the bride and bridegroom are conducted into their bedchamber, 
without the former so much as having seen her husband’s 
father or his mother. But the day following she pays them a 
visit, in a very formal and ceremonious manner, when another 
public entertainment is prepared, at which she takes upon her¬ 
self the office of entertaining the guests. She waits upon her 
mother-in-law at table, and eats her leavings, as a testimony 
that she is no stranger, but one of the family; for it is a con¬ 
stant custom amongst them, never to offer even to the servants 
of strangers the fragments, which are taken from their own 
table. 

“ The solemnization of their nuptials is always preceded by 
three days’ mourning, during which they abstain from all 
manner of gay amusements. The reason on which this cus¬ 
tom is grounded, is that the Chinese look upon the marriage 
of their children as an image or representation of their own 
death, because at such time they become their successors, as 
it were beforehand. The friends and relations of the father 
never congratulate him on this occasion, and in case they 
make him any presents, they never take the least notice of the 
intended nuptials.” 

The Chinese in their mourning lay aside yellow and blue 


CHINESE. 


511 


which, in their opinion, are gay colours, and dress themselves 
only in white, a colour destined by them to ex¬ 
press their sorrow from the earliest times. No Mourning, 
one, from the prince to the meanest mechanic, ever deviates 
from this established custom. In general, they wear girdles 
made of hemp. Their mourning for all their relations is of 
longer or shorter duration, according to proximity of blood. 

As soon as ever a person has expired, some relation or 
friend immediately takes his coat, ascends to the top of the 
house, and turning his face towards the north, calls as loudly 
as possible upon the soul of the deceased three times succes¬ 
sively. He addresses himself to the heaven, the earth, and 
the mid-region of the air. After which, he folds the coat up, 
and turns his face towards the south; then he unfolds the coat 
again, and spreads it over the deceased, there to remain three 
days untouched, in expectation that his soul will resume its 
former state. The same ceremony is observed out of their 
cities, for a person who has unfortunately been killed. 

When a Chinese dies, an altar is immediately erected in 
some particular room in the house, which in general is hung 
with mourning. An image or representation of the deceased, 
is laid upon the altar, with all the decorations before men¬ 
tioned, and the corpse behind it in a coffin. Every one that 
approaches it, to testify their concern, or pay their compli¬ 
ments of condolence, bow the knee four times before the image, 
and prostrate themselves to the very ground; but before these 
genuflexions, they make their oblations of perfumes. The 
children of the deceased, if there be any who survive him, 
stand dressed in mourning close by the coffin; and his wives 
and relations weep aloud, with the female mourners who are 
hired, behind a curtain which conceals them. It is to be ob¬ 
served, that according to the Chinese ritual, as soon as the 
corpse of the deceased is laid in the coffin, there must be as 
much corn, rice, silver, and gold, put into his mouth, as his 
circumstances will admit of. They put likewise a quantity 
of nails, and several scissors tied up in purses, and laid at 
each corner of the coffin, that he may cut them as occasion 
shall require. 

The day on which the funeral is to be solemnized, all the 
relations and friends meet at the house of the deceased, dressed 
in mourning, who, together with the priests, form the funeral 
procession, which is attended with the images or pictures oi 
men, women, elephants, tigers, &c. all destined to be burnt, 
for the benefit of the party deceased. The priests, and those 
who are hired to read prayers, or make a funeral panegyric 


512 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


over the grave, bring up the rear. Several persons march in 
the front, with brazen censers, of a considerable size, on their 
shoulders. The children of the deceased march directly after 
the corpse, on foot, leaning upon sticks, which is an expres¬ 
sion, at least an external one, of sorrow and concern. 

After the children come the wives, and the more distant re¬ 
lations of the deceased, in a close litter. A great variety o. 
ceremonies attend this procession ; but we shall only take no¬ 
tice, that it is accompanied with the sound of tymbals, drums, 
flutes, and other instrumental music. As soon as the coffin 
has advanced about thirty yards from the house, a considera¬ 
ble quantity of red sand is thrown upon it. 

Each family has a sepulchre belonging to it, which is 
erected on some little hill, or place adjacent, embellished with 
figures and other decorations, like those at the procession. 
Epitaphs and other inscriptions are also in use among them. 


SEC. II.-RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS OF THE 

JAPANESE. 


The most prevalent religious sects in Japan are those ol 
Sinto and Budsdo. That of Sinto, which is the most ancient, 
R though its adherents are now least numerous, is 

Sects 1 ° 10US conceived to have originated from Babylonian 
emigrants, and to have been originally very sim¬ 
ple and pure in its tenets. Its followers acknowledge a Su¬ 
preme Being, who inhabits the highest heavens, and who 
is far too great to require their worship; but they admit a mul¬ 
titude of inferior divinities, who exercise dominion over the 
earth, water, air, &c., and have great power in promoting the 
happiness or misery of the human race. They have some 
conception of the soul’s immortality; and believe that a happy 
abode immediately under heaven is assigned to the spirits ot 
the virtuous, while those of the wicked shall be doomed to 
wander to and fro under the firmament. Their practical pre¬ 
cepts are directed to inculcate a virtuous life, and obedience to 
the laws of the sovereign. They abstain from animal food, and 
are reluctant to shed innocent blood, or even to touch a dead 
body. Their churches contain no visible idols, nor any repre¬ 
sentation of the Supreme Being; but sometimes a small image 
is kept in a box, to represent some inferior deity, to whom the 
temple is consecrated. In the centre of the temple is fre¬ 
quently placed a large mirror, made of well polished cast 
metal, which is designed to represent the worshippers, that in 
like manner as their personal blemishes are therein displayed, 


JAPANESE. 


513 


so arc their secret evil thoughts exposed to the all-searching 
eyes of the immortal gods. The worshippers approach these 
temples with great devotion of manner, and with the most 
scrupulous attention to cleanliness of person and apparel. Ad¬ 
vancing reverently to the mirror, they bow themselves to the 
ground, prefer their prayers, present their offerings, and then 
repair to their amusements. The kubo professes himself to 
belong to this sect, and is bound to make a visit annually in 
person, or by an ambassador, to one of their temples, to per¬ 
form his devotion and present gifts. 

Budsdo’s doctrine was brought originally from the coast of 
Malabar, and is considered the same with that of Budha in 
Hindostan. Passing from China into Japan, it 
became blended with that of Sinto, and gave birth ^ ect ot ^ ucJs ' 
to a monstrous mixture of superstition. Its pe¬ 
culiar tenets are, that the souls of men and of beasts are equally 
immortal, and that the souls of the wicked are condemned to 
undergo punishment and purification, by passing after death 
into the bodies of the lower animals. There are many other 
sects, very opposite in their tenets and observances; but they 
are said to live together in great harmony, or rather to share 
in all their mutual superstitions. The Dairi, or ecclesiastical 
sovereign, seems to be the general head of all those different 
sects, and appoints the principal priests throughout the coun¬ 
try. Every sect has its respective church and peculiar idols, 
which are commonly remarkable for their uncouth and hide¬ 
ous form. Thunberg mentions one colossal wooden image, 
which measures ten yards across the shoulders, and affords 
room for six men to sit upon its wrist. The inferior divinities 
are innumerable, as almost every trade has its tutelar god, and 
in one temple not less than thirty-three thousand three hundred 
and thirty-three are said to be ranged around the supreme 
deity. The temples are commonly built in the suburbs of the 
town, on the most elevated and suitable spots, to which are fre¬ 
quently attached beautiful avenues of cypress trees, with hand¬ 
some gates. The idols are usually exhibited upon an altar 
surrounded with flowers, incense, and other decorations. They 
are filled with the lower or secular priests, who attend to keep 
them clean, to light the lamps and fires, to present the flowers 
and incense, and to admit worshippers at all times of the day. 
Even strangers are allowed to enter, and sometimes to lodge 
in the temples. To some of the more noted churches it is 
common to perform pilgrimages, especially to the temples of 
Tsie, the most ancient in the empire, and almost completely 
ecayed with age, notwithstanding the utmost care to preserve 


514 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


its ruins. Its sole ornaments are a mirror, denoting that no¬ 
thing can he hid from the supreme being, and slips of white 
paper hung round the walls, to signify that nothing but what 
is pure should approach his presence. To this place, the em¬ 
peror must send an ambassador, on the first day of every 
month, and every individual must make a visit, at least once 
in the course of his life. Such a pilgrimage, besides its merit, 
is rewarded with an indulgence or remission of sins for a 
whole year. There are also in Japan orders of monks or 
nuns; one of which consists of blind persons, a kind of beg¬ 
gars dispersed over the empire, and another, called monks of 
the mountain, are a species of fortune-tellers and quack-doctors, 
who are bound to live on roots and herbs, to practise constant 
ablutions, and to traverse deserts and mountains once in a year. 
There are likewise several philosophical sects in the country, 
who disclaim all external worship; one of the most celebrated 
of which adopts the tenets of the Chinese Confucius, and re¬ 
sembles in its general principles the ancient school of Epicu¬ 
rus. Its followers acknowledge a kind of anima mundi, but 
limit the existence of man to the present life; and inculcate 
the general practice of virtue, but allow and even applaud the 
commission of suicide. Almost immediately after the dis¬ 
covery of Japan by the Portuguese, the Christian religion 
was introduced into the country by the Jesuit missionaries in 
the year 1549, and made such rapid progress, that several 
princes of the empire were soon ranked among its converts; 
and about the year 1582, a public embassy was sent from the 
Japanese court with letters and valuable presents to the Roman 
pontiff But the Portuguese who had settled in great num¬ 
bers in Japan, intoxicated by the extent of their commerce, and 
the success of their religion, became so obnoxious to the natives 
by their avaricious and domineering conduct, that the repre¬ 
sentations of the heathen priests became at length sufficiently 
powerful to procure a prohibition from the emperor against 
the new religion, which threatened to overturn all the ancient 
institutions of the country. A violent persecution was com¬ 
menced against the Christians, of whom twenty thousand are 
said to have been put to death in the year 1590. Still did the 
number of proselytes continue to increase, and in the years 
1591 and 1592, twelve thousand were converted and baptized. 
One of the emperors, named Kubo Fide Jori, with his whole 
court and army, embraced the Christian name; and had the 
Portuguese settlers in the country acted with ordinary pru¬ 
dence and gentleness, their cause must have triumphed; but 
the insolence of some of their prelates, to some priests of the 








JAPANESE. 


515 


blood, became so insupportable, that a new persecution arose 
in the year 1596, which was carried on without intermission 
for the space of forty years, and ended in the year 1638 with 
the total extermination of the Christians, and the banishment 
of the Portuguese from the country. The Japanese govern¬ 
ment, considering the unwarrantable conduct of these settlers, 
to be inseparable from their principles as Christians, have per¬ 
severed in the enforcement of the most efficacious measures to 
prevent their re-introduction into the country ; and in order to 
detect any concealed adherents to these proscribed sentiments, 
all persons are required to prove their freedom from such 
heresy, by publicly trampling, at the festival of the new year, 
upon the images of the Catholic saints. 

Having given a general account of the two prevalent reli¬ 
gious sects in Japan, we shall proceed to notice more particu¬ 
larly some of their religious tenets and practices. 

If the Japanese have any idea of rewards and punishments 
in a future state, they perfectly extinguish it, both by their 
conduct and their system. Their most refined 
conceptions amount to no more than this, that the punishments ^ 
soul, after its separation from the body, wings her 1 
way towards Takamans-ferra, that is, high and sub-celestial 
fields, which lie, in their opinion, beneath the three-and-thirti- 
eth heaven. The souls of the virtuous are admitted in a mo¬ 
ment into those realms of bliss; but those of the vicious are 
refused admittance, and obliged to wander about in a discon¬ 
solate manner for a long time, to make atonement for their 
sins. As to their notion of hell, Ksempfer assures us, that 
the Sintoists acknowledge no other than the torment of wan¬ 
dering like vagabonds around those sub-celestial fields, nor 
any other devil, than the detestable Fox, whom they conjure 
in the most solemn manner; for a great number of the Japan¬ 
ese look upon that animal as the receptacle of the souls of 
the wicked in a future state. The odious name, which their 
priests give to that creature, is much the same with our deno¬ 
mination of the foul fiend. 

We shall next proceed to the morals of the Sintoists. They 
who are of this sect maintain, that in order to draw down the 
benediction of the gods upon their souls in the Morality, 
life to come, but more particularly in this, they 
must take indefatigable pains to keep their souls unspotted 
and undefiled, religiously abstain from every thing that may 
possibly pollute them, or their bodies, strictly observe all festi¬ 
vals and other days set apart for the service and worship of 
the gods, and make voluntary pilgrimages to the province of 


516 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


Isie. This part of their empire is looked upon by their devo¬ 
tees as their Holy Land, because Isanagi-Mikotto, and his 
wife Isanami, who are the Adam and Eve of these islanders, 
sojourned there during the whole of their lives. Tensio-dai- 
sin , who was the first of the race of their terrestrial gods, and 
the eldest son of Isanagi, sojourned likewise in this very pro¬ 
vince. They who carry their devotion to the highest pitch, 
add penance and humiliation to these four precepts of Sin- 
toism. 

Purity of soul, according to these Sintoists, consists in a 
strict obedience to the dictates of nature and the voice of rea- 
. j son : in an utter abhorrence of what those dictates 

uriyo sou. reS p ect j ve ]y prohibit; in the exact observance 
of the laws of the realm; and the commands of their prince; 
and in the abstinence from every action, that is inconsistent 
with either the one or the other. But Sintoism, in a more 
peculiar manner, recommends to its admirers an external pu¬ 
rity, to which its devotees are inviolably attached, as devotees, 
indeed, in all religions generally are. This external purity 
consists in not defiling themselves with blood, in abstaining 
from all manner of flesh, and taking particular care not to 
touch the dead. 

The observance of solemn festivals, and of those days which 
are set apart for the service of the gods, is the third article o 
Sintoism. At those times the devotees are obli- 
of Festivals' 06 to their pagods, unless they happen to 
be in a state of impurity, or their minds be ruffled 
and discomposed by any inordinate passions. But before they 
presume to appear in the presence of their gods, even before 
they depart from their houses, in order to go to the temple, 
they first purify and wash themselves, then dress with propri¬ 
ety and neatness; and, above all, take particular care to put 
on their Kamisino, which is a ceremonial habit, and undoubt¬ 
edly looked upon as a fundamental article of their religious 
worship. They go to the temple with an air of gravity and 
sedateness; and as soon as they enter the outward court, there 
is a large conservatory of water, in which they are obliged to 
wash their hands before they proceed any further. After this 
ablution, they approach the temple with downcast eyes, and 
an air of contrition ; then they present themselves before a 
window, in which stands a large looking-glass, which is an 
emblem of the Deity, who sees all things past, present, and to 
come, at one view, as in a glass. He knows all the secrets, 
all the thoughts of his adorers. This is the illustration which 
the Japanese give of this looking-glass. The Sintoists fall upon 



Bramins Dragging Chains, p.557. 



Braniin hanging by his feet above a fire which he supplies with 

wood, p. 557. 

















































































































JAPANESE. 


617 


their knees, and bow down their heads before this window; 
and after having remained a few moments in that humble 
posture, they lift up their heads, and as they say their prayers, 
turn their eyes with considerable humility towards the sacred 
mirror. After this, they put some pieces of silver through a 
lattice into the temple, or the charity-box, which stands close 
by the latter. This is an oblation to the gods, or rather an alms 
to their priest. After they have made this free-will offering, 
they ring a bell three times, as a testimony of their love and 
affection for the gods, who, as they imagine, take great delight 
in such agreeable sounds. 

The Sintoists look on pilgrimage as the fourth important 
article of their religion. Kcempfer takes notice of three kinds 
of it, amongst which, that made to Isie, or Tsie, piio-rima^e 

is, properly speaking, the only one peculiar to to Isie or Tsfe. 
Sintoism. That of Isie, is called Sanga , which 

signifies the devotion of ascending or going up to the tem¬ 
ple. The temple of Isie bears the name of Dai-singu; that 
is to say, the temple of the great God. The fabric is com¬ 
posed of wood, and covered with straw. They take pecu¬ 
liar care to preserve it in its native simplicity, in order to 
commemorate the abject state and condition of their ances¬ 
tors, more particularly those who laid the first foundation 
of their empire. There is nothing remarkable in this tem¬ 
ple, excepting a large brazen looking-glass curiously polish¬ 
ed, and several pieces of white paper, cut after the Chinese 
fashion, which hang upon the walls. This white paper is a 
symbol of that poverty of spirit, which the Deity requires of 
all those who pay their adorations to him, as also of the sanc¬ 
tity of the place. The temple is surrounded with a hundred 
little chapels, erected in honour of some of the inferior deities; 
these are only small edifices, in the form of temples; for they 
are so low T that a man can scarcely stand upright in any of 
them; every chapel, however, has its peculiar priest. Near 
to this temple of Dai-singu , and the chapels which surround 

it, is established a religious order, the members of which as¬ 
sume the title and quality of the ministers and messengers of 
the gods, whose proper province it is to accommodate with 
convenient lodgings all the pilgrims who resort to that sacred 
place. 

The true Sintoists are obliged once a year, or at least once 
in their lives, to perform the Sanga. The priests, at such 
terms, present every devout pilgrim with an Ofar ay , which is 
a kind of certificate, or an absolution, entitling him to appear 
before the gods. Those who through age, weakness, or their 
44 


513 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


necessary avocations, cannot personally perform the Sanga, 
must at least be provided with one of these Ofarays of Isie. 

The Sanga may be performed by deputation, and the 
grandees of Japan, and the tributary kings of the monarchy, 
perform it all by proxy. The emperor discharges himself of 
this duty, by sending ambassadors annually to the pagod of 
Isie. As to those, who undertake this pilgrimage themselves, 
if their circumstances be but indifferent, they go on foot, and 
the poorer sort beg the whole of the way for their daily sub¬ 
sistence. The majority of them carry a staff in their hand, 
and wear at their girdles a small bucket, which serves them not 
only to drink out of, but to store up the charitable presents, which 
are from time to time bestowed upon them. They'wear like¬ 
wise hats made of reeds, the brims of which being very broad, 
serves them to write their names upon, and the particular 
places of their nativity, or usual residence, that in case of 
death, or any other unforeseen misfortune, they may be known 
and challenged by their friends and relations. The devotees, 
on their return from this pilgrimage, wear over their common 
dress a little white vestment, without sleeves, on which their 
names are embroidered both before and behind. 

As soon as these pilgrims set out for the Sanga, their 
friends, who stay at home, hang up a cord at their doors, and 
twist white paper all round about it, the intent of which is to 
keep those people from the house who are actually in Ima, 
that is, in the highest degree of pollution. Should any per¬ 
son in this Ima unhappily enter the house, he would thereby 
expose the poor pilgrim to a thousand dreadful calamities and 
perplexing dreams. Signals of the same nature are placed at the 
entrance of several of their pagods ; such prudent precautions, 
however, are not sufficient of themselves to crown the pilgrim’s 
devotion with success ; for he is required, during his whole jour¬ 
ney, to live as free as possible from all manner of impurity. 

As soon as the pilgrim arrives at Isie, he makes a visit di¬ 
rectly to the priest, to whom he is either recommended, or of 
whom he has himself made choice for his ghostly father, and 
with Avhom he lodges all the time he resides at Isie; and if 
he have not money of his oavh sufficient to repay him for his 
trouble, he pays him out of the charitable collections he makes 
at the place. The most zealous devotees begin their pious 
course with visiting the two temples near that of Tongu, or 
Ten-sio-dai-sin, and take the little chapels which surround 
them in their way. After this visitation they repair to a cave, 
which they call the country, or region of the heavens, because 
Ten-sio-dai-sin, having also retired into it, deprived the sun 


JAPANESE. 


519 


and the stars of all their radiant lustre, and spread darkness 
over the face of the whole earth, to demonstrate that he alone 
was the Supreme Being, and the source of light. Not far 
from this cave, a chapel is situate, in which is to be seen a 
Cami , mounted on the back of a cow. The term Cami sig¬ 
nifies a representation, or rather an emblem of the sun. The 
pilgrim performs his devotions in this chapel, after he has 
said his prayers in the cave of Ten-sio-dai-sin. His devotions 
conclude with his charitable contributions to the priests of 
these sacred places. After this he is conducted to the temple 
of Ten-sio-dai-sin, to whom the pilgrim opens all the secrets 
of his heart. Although his preceding acts are indeed very 
meritorious, yet they are but the introduction to the true devo¬ 
tion, which is due to Ten-sio-dai-sin, who seems to be the 
image of the Supreme Being, but disfigured by the fictions, 
which the priests have extracted from their legends. At last, 
when the devotee is ready to return, the priest makes him a 
present of an Ofaray, which has been already cursorily men¬ 
tioned. This Ofaray is a little wooden box, not perfectly 
square, being somewhat longer than it is broad. This box 
is full of little sticks, amongst which some of them are wrap¬ 
ped up in white paper, a symbol, as we have before observed, 
of the purity of the heart. On one side of the box, the words, 
Dai-Singu, are written in large characters ; and on the other, 
the name of the officiating priest, with the additional title or 
epithet of Taiju, that is, the Messenger of the Gods. The 
pilgrim having received this little treasure, with all the testi¬ 
monies of the profoundest veneration and respect, hang3 it ge¬ 
nerally on the fore flap of his hat, so that the Ofaray falls just 
before his forehead: on the hind flap he fastens another little 
box, or a little straw, as it were, by way of balance. The 
priests who give, and the devotees who receive this Ofaray, 
ascribe several extraordinary virtues to it, but with quite differ¬ 
ent views. All its supernatural qualities, indeed, are lost within 
the compass of a year; but, how r ever, it is still preserved in 
high esteem, and fixed by some upon a tablet in their best par¬ 
lour, and by others over the street-door, under a pent-house 
made on purpose. The Ofarays of the dead, and of those who 
are accidentally found in the streets or highways, are always 
concealed within the trunk of some hollow tree. The priests 
carry on an advantageous traffic with these Ofarays, especially 
on New-Year’s Day, that being one of their most solemn festi¬ 
vals, at which time they understand well how to make their 
market to advantage, and to sooth the good humour, in which 
the common people generally are, at that remarkable season. 


520 


PAGAN NATION 3. 


Si aka 
Budhu. 


According to the advocates of the religion of Budsdo its 
founder, Budhu, or as Kasmpfer calls him, Siaka, was 
the son of one of the kings of Ceylon. When 
or he was but nineteen years of age, he not only 
abandoned all the pomps and vanities of the 
world, but also his wife and only son, to become the dis¬ 
ciple of a celebrated anchoret. Under this great master 
he made a very considerable progress in the state of con¬ 
templation; and the more effectually to wean his thoughts 
from all external objects, he habituated himself to sit in such 
a posture, as, according to the disciples of Siaka, engages the 
mind so intentively, that a man thereby descends, as it were, 
into himself, and is wholly wrapped up in his own ideas. 
Siaka’s posture was as follows: he sat with his legs across 
directly under him, and his hands laid one over another, in 
such a manner that the tip of his thumbs met close together. 
It was in this situation, that the divine truths were revealed to 
this enthusiast; that he penetrated into the most hidden mys¬ 
teries of religion, and discovered the existence both of heaven 
and of hell; that he entertained an adequate idea of the state 
of souls after their separation from the bodies which they ani¬ 
mated, and all their various transmigrations; that he was 
fully apprised of their rewards and punishments in another 
life; together with the omnipotence of the gods, and their di¬ 
vine providence, &c. On this revelation he grounded his 
system, and in process of time confirmed his disciples in the 
steadfast belief of it. 

The doctrine of Siaka is that the souls of men and beasts 
are equally immortal, and of one and the same substance ; all 

Drctrines of ^ ie ^^ erence consisting in the bodies, which 
Siaka * S 1 fh e y respectively animate. As soon as the soul 
is separated from the body, it enters immediately 
into a state of happiness or misery, there to be rewarded or 
punished according to its deportment whilst united to the body. 
This state of bliss is called by a name which signifies, the 
seat of everlasting happiness; and although there be different 
degrees of pleasure in this paradise, and all are rewarded in 
proportion only to their respective merits; yet every inhabi¬ 
tant is so fully contented, that he esteems himself more happy 
than his neighbour, and his utmost ambition extends no far¬ 
ther than to enjoy to all eternity that share of happiness which 
he already possesses. Amidas is the sovereign lord, and ab¬ 
solute ruler of this paradise ; he is the protector of all human 
souls, the father and god of all those who are made partakers 
of the delights of this paradise: he, in short, is the mediator 


JAPANESE. 


521 


and saviour of mankind. It is through his intercession 
that souls obtain a remission of their sins, and are accounted 
worthy of eternal life. To live uprightly, and to observe 
strictly all the commandments of Siaka, are the two funda¬ 
mental points which are capable of rendering them accept¬ 
able in the sight of Amidas. 

As there are degrees of pleasure in paradise, so there are 
degrees likewise of pain in hell. Jemma is the judge of the 
wicked, and the grim monarch of this place of Heaven and 
torments. He beholds in a large looking-glass Hell, 
all the most secret transactions of mankind ; he 
is, nevertheless, almost inexorable ; but if the priests make in¬ 
tercession to Amidas for the sinner, and the relations of the 
deceased contribute by their liberal oblations towards the effi¬ 
cacy of the prayers of the priests, Amidas solicits this stern 
judge in such prevailing terms, that he not only mitigates the 
pains of the transgressor, but frequently discharges him, and 
sends him into the world again, before the term allotted for 
his chastisement be fully expired. 

After the souls of men have made an atonement for their 
crimes in hell, by undergoing those torments which Jemma 
thinks fit to inflict upon them, they return into this world, and 
animate the bodies of such unclean beasts, as are most suitable 
to the vicious inclinations, that led them astray in their former 
state. As for instance, one takes up her residence in a toad, 
another in a serpent, &c. From these impure animals they 
transmigrate into others not so odious and contemptible; and 
so insensibly return in process of time to human bodies; in 
which, if they behave after the same profligate manner as they 
did before, they expose themselves after death to new and 
inexpressible torments. 

After the death of Siaka, two of his favourite disciples made 
a collection of his maxims, and all his manuscripts, which 
were written with his own hands on the leaves Sacred Book 
of a certain tree. The whole was contained in 
one volume, which the Japanese, by way of eminence, call 
Kio, that is, The Book. They call it likewise Toke-Jcio , that 
is, The Book of Fine Flowers. The two compilers of Siaka’s 
manuscripts were honoured with deification. They are gene¬ 
rally placed in the temples of their master; one on his right 
hand, and the other on his left. 

The gods of Japan are exceedingly numerous, and their 
temples amount to many thousands. Within these temples 
there are generally no idols, but their squares ^ 
and highways are always honoured with the 
44* 


522 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


presence of some idol, which is erected there either with a 
view to kindle the flames of devotion in the souls of travellers, 
or with an intent only to support and protect the place. Idols 
are erected likewise near their bridges, and surround their 
temples, chapels, and convents. The people purchase either 
the pictures or images of these idols. The former are in 
general drawn on a sheet, or half a sheet of paper. They are 
pasted like bills or advertisements, upon the gates of their 
cities, and other public buildings, or on posts at the corner of 
their bridges and streets. The people, however, are not 
obliged, as they pass by, to prostrate themselves, nor to bow 
the knee before them. They have generally likewise an 
image of their domestic and tutelar gods before the doors of 
their houses. Giwon is the particular idol, which is most 
commonly represented by these images. They call him like¬ 
wise God-su-ten-oo, the literal signification of which is, The 
Prince of the Heavens with the head of an ox. The Japanese 
ascribe to him the power of protecting them from all manner 
of distempers; particularly the small-pox, and from other ca¬ 
sualties incidental to mankind. Others, still more supersti¬ 
tious, or rather more whimsical and extravagant, imagine, 
that they shall always be healthy and happy, provided the 
doors of their apartments be decorated with the monstrous 
figure of a savage of Jesso, who is hairy all over, and armed 
with a cutlass, which he holds in both hands, and with which, 
according to their notion, he denies admittance to all casualties 
and distempers whatsoever. Sometimes the door is secured 
by the monstrous head of some devil, or the tremendous figure 
of a dragon. Sometimes they don tent themselves with adorn¬ 
ing the door, in the manner of a festoon, with the boughs of 
some particular trees, or with the plant called liver-wort. In 
short, they frequently place their ofarays over the doors of their 
apartments; and it is highly probable, that throughout the 
whole a great conformity exists between the amulets of the 
ancients, and the talismans of the Arabians. 

Amidas, whom travellers sometimes call Omyto, is the god 
and guardian of souls, who preserves them, and saves them 

Amidas ^ rom those punishments which by their sins and 
iniquities they have deserved. He is represented 
upon an altar, and mounted on a horse with seven heads, which 
are hieroglyphics of seven thousand ages, each head repre¬ 
senting one thousand. Amidas is represented with a dog’s 
head, instead of a human face; he holds in his hands a gold 
ring, or circle, which he bites. This may be said to bear a very 
near affinity to the Egyptian circle, which was looked upon as 




Amidas, the principal Deity of the Japanese, p. 523* 








































































































































































































JAPANESE. 


523 


the emblem of time. At least it demonstrates, that this god is 
a hieroglyphic of the revolution of ages, or rather of eternity 
itself. Amidas is generally represented as dressed in a very 
rich robe, adorned with pearls and precious stones; and as he 
is considered the protector of their souls, and their saviour, is 
revered after a very singular manner, by some particular de¬ 
votees, who voluntarily sacrifice their lives in honour to this 
idol, and drown themselves in his presence. This ceremony 
consists principally in embarking in a pretty little boat, which 
is in general gilt, and adorned with several silken streamers; 
the devotee having previously tied a considerable number of 
stones to his neck, waist, and legs. The destined victim, 
however, first takes a dance, and frisks about to the sound of 
gongums, and other instrumental music; after which he 
throws himself headlong into the river. On this solemn occa¬ 
sion, he is attended by a numerous train of his friends and 
relations, and several Bonzes. This voluntary catastrophe is 
preceded by an intimate converse for two days between him 
and his god. 

That Amidas is in their opinion the Supreme Being, is un¬ 
deniably evident from the description which his disciples give 
of him ; for, they say, he is an invisible, incorporeal, and im¬ 
mutable substance, distinct from all the elements; that he ex¬ 
isted before Nature, and is the fountain and foundation of all 
good, without beginning or end ; in short, that he created the 
universe, and is infinite and immense. They likewise add, 
that he governs the universe without the least trouble or care; 
by which they must either mean an absolute order, which the 
Supreme Being has established from the beginning, by virtue 
of which all things are disposed in such a manner that nature 
indispensably obeys it: or simply, that the providence of God 
governs every thing he has created, according to his own good 
will and pleasure, without the least trouble. However that 
may be, if they acknowledge that Amidas governs the uni¬ 
verse, they own by consequence, his providence. Besides, the 
temples and altars which are erected to his honour throughout 
the whole empire of Japan, a great number of convents are 
consecrated to him, in which several monks and nuns reside, 
who are for ever destined to a single state on pain of death. 

Canon, called by some travellers, the son of Amidas, pre¬ 
sides over the waters, and the fish. He is the creator of the 
sun and the moon. This idol, according to the Canon 
representation of him, has four arms, like his 
father, is swallowed up by a fish, as far as his middle, and is 
crowned with flowers. He has a sceptre in one hand, a flower 


t 


524 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


in another, and a ring in the third ; the fourth is closed, and 
the arm extended. Opposite him is the figure of an humble 
devotee, one half of whose body lies concealed within a shell. 
Four other figures are placed at a little distance on an altar, 
each of them with their hands closed like humble supplicants, 
from which, as from so many fountains, flow streams of water. 

Toranga is another idol of the Japanese. This hero of Ja¬ 
pan was formerly a huntsman. He took possession of the 
^ empire soon after its first establishment, and by 

oranga. jji s extraordinary merit, in process of time, was 
revered as one of their Camis, and consequently was ranged 
among the gods. He delivered Japan from a tyrant, who, 
with eight kings of the country, his confederates and allies, 
laid the empire waste; upon which account it was thought 
proper to represent him with eight arms, and in each hand 
some weapon of defence. Toranga defeated them with a 
hatchet only, and, during the combat, trod under foot a mon¬ 
strous and formidable serpent, which in all probability is 
looked upon as a hieroglyphic at Japan, as well as it is with 
us. His Mia, which is situated in the province or kingdom 
of Vacata, is remarkable for the four oxen which are gilt all 
over, and fixed, by way of decoration, on the four corners of 
the roof, which projects on all sides, according to the custom 
observed in the erection of all their Mias. The wall of this 
Mia is, moreover, embellished with the figures of several an¬ 
cient Camis, or demi-gods of Japan, and the whole structure 
is raised after the same model with the rest. A number of 
vagrants and beggars assemble before the doors of this tem¬ 
ple ; and, as they sing the praises of their heroes, beg the 
charity and benevolence of the public. 

Apes and monkeys are said to be worshipped and to have 
their pagods in Japan. Their veneration for dogs is of mo- 

. dern date. The emperor who sat on the throne, 

keys,and dogs. when Ksempfer resided in Japan, was so extra- 
vagantly fond of them, that since his reign, a 
greater number of them have been kept in that kingdom, than 
in any other nation in the whole world. Every street is 
obliged to maintain a fixed and determined number of them. 
They are quartered upon the inhabitants, and, in case of sick¬ 
ness, they are obliged to nurse and attend them. When they 
die, they are obliged to inter them in a decent manner, in the 
mountains and hills peculiarly appropriated for the interment 
of the people. It is looked upon as a capital crime not only 
to kill them, but even to insult and treat them ill; and no one 
but the legal proprietor is allowed so much as to correct any 













JAPANESE. 


525 


of them. All this reverence and respect are owing to a celes¬ 
tial constellation, which the Japanese call the dog, under the 
influence of which the aforesaid Emperor of Japan was born. 

Jemma-o, the judge, or, more properly speaking, the grim 
tyrant of the infernal regions, has a pagod consecrated to him 
some small distance from Miaco, situate in a 
very delightful grotto ; in which is also situate a emma ’ 0, 
convent, to which the nobility, whose circumstances are hut 
narrow, and their families large, send their younger children, 
whom they cannot with any convenience support in a manner 
suitable to their character and grandeur. In'the same place 
stands likewise a pagod of that infernal judge, who is styled 
the king of the devils. Two large devils are placed on each 
side of him, and as for himself his figure is as monstrous and 
formidable as is suitable to his function, and his gloomy ha¬ 
bitation. One of these devils acts as his secretary, and regis¬ 
ters in a book, kept for that particular purpose, all the offences 
and transgressions of mankind; the province of the other is 
to read them distinctly over, or rather to dictate what the sec¬ 
retary is to enter. The walls are embellished with frightful 
pictures of all the inexpressible tortures which the wicked un¬ 
dergo in the regions of hell. This pagod is prodigiously 
crowded by the people, who resort to it from all parts, with 
oblations and money in their hands, to redeem their souls from 
the torments of so formidable a judge. 

Dai-botb, or Dai-but, is one of the principal deities of the 
empire. The etymological signification of his name is, the 
Great God, or Great Deity. In all probability, 
therefore, he may be the same as Amidas, or ° r 

the Supreme Being, considered under some of 
his particular attributes; or he may be Budhu, perhaps, from 
whom the Budsdoists derive their denomination. This idol 
is set up in a very remarkable pagod at Miaco. The follow¬ 
ing is the most authentic account of the celebrated temple con¬ 
secrated to the idol Daiboth. On entering the temple itself, a 
kind of a gate is passed through, on each side of which are 
erected two monstrous figures, with several arms, full of ar¬ 
rows, swords, and other offensive weapons. These two mon¬ 
sters stand in a posture of defence, and seem prepared to com¬ 
bat each other. From this gate the way leads to a large quad¬ 
rangle, with galleries on each side of it, which are supported 
by pillars of freestone. Having crossed this square, another 
gate presents itself, embellished with two large lions made of 
stone, which leads directly into the pagod, in the centre of 
which the idol Daiboth is seated, after the oriental fashion, 


526 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


on an altar table, which has a slight elevation from the 
ground. This idol is of a monstrous height; his head touch¬ 
ing the very roof of his temple. 

Besides the foregoing, the Japanese have numerous other 
gods, which preside over their fortune, &c. Daikoku , to 
whom they are indebted for all the riches they enjoy. Tossi - 
toku, who presides over the good or ill fortune of mankind. 
Fottei, who presides over all their diversions. Sueva , who 
is the god and patron of their huntsmen, &c. 

It is one of the fundamental principles of Sintoism, to visit, 
as often as possible, the temples consecrated to the gods, and 

Festivals t * ie S0L1 ^ S °f those saints, who in their lives were 
conspicuous for their merit. This act of devotion, 
indeed, is always commendable; but must be neglected, on no 
account, at such times as are set apart for divine service. 

The festivals of the Sintos are all fixed and immoveable; 
some are monthly, others annual. There are three in every 
month; that is, at the increase, full, and decrease of the moon. 
In regard to the first, it is a day rather devoted to conversation, 
and other innocent amusements amongst friends, than to the 
service of the gods. The last is set apart likewise for nearly 
the same purposes. But the fifteenth day of the month is, 
properly speaking, a solemn festival, and spent in acts of de¬ 
votion. The Sintos have, moreover, five annual festivals, 
which are also immoveable; that is to say, New-year’s day, 
the third day of the third month, the fifth of the fifth, the 
seventh of the seventh, and the ninth of the ninth month. The 
reason of this exceedingly curious choice of unequal num¬ 
bers, is, that they fall upon unfortunate days, and that the 
usual rejoicings on such festivals are, in the opinion of the 
Sintos, acceptable to the gods, and avert those evils and mis¬ 
fortunes, which would otherwise infallibly fall out on those 
unlucky days. It is an established notion of the Sintoists, 
that the gods take delight in the various recreations, which 
constantly attend their festivals ; and that the innocent amuse¬ 
ments of those, who honour them by such public demon¬ 
strations of their joy, can never offend them. 

Pilgrimages are performed by great numbers, who are ge¬ 
nerally dressed in white, and seldom march more than four 

Pilgrimages. or ^ ve a body; one of whom is, as it were, 
their commanding officer, and carries in his 
hand a staff! or kind of halberd, adorned with little bundles of 
white paper, fastened to one another, which may with the 
greatest propriety be called their fasces. Their discipline, or 
order of marching, is this. Two of the leaders of the van 












JAPANESE. 


527 


move with a slow and solemn pace, and every now and then 
with a considerable degree of formality make a halt. These 
two conjointly carry a kind of hand harrow, on the top of which 
there is a bell, or something like one, of a light metal, or a 
large kettle, or, in short, some other instrument alluding to the 
history of their gods, adorned with the boughs of fir-trees, and 
slips of white paper, cut in various forms. The superior or 
commanding officer dances before the hand-barrow, and at 
the same time sings, in a very melancholy tone, some com¬ 
position or another suitable to the present subject. Meanwhile 
another of these devout soldiers files off and gets forward, in 
order to beg from door to door through the next town, or to 
collect upon the road the charitable contributions of those 
well-disposed persons who accidentally pass by him. 

Another set of pilgrims oblige themselves to visit the three 
and thirty principal pagods, which are peculiarly consecrated 
to their god duanwon or Canon. These devotees all sing, as 
they proceed from house to house, some psalm or hymn, in 
honour to their god, &c. They are dressed in white, and 
wear about their necks a list or catalogue of the several tem¬ 
ples of Canon, which they are still to visit. This course of 
life, this method of travelling the kingdom over, in the name of 
some deity or other, is so commodious and agreeable, that 
thousands become pilgrims, in order to live free from the so¬ 
licitudes and anxieties of life. 

There are others, who commence pilgrims with more credit 
and reputation than the rest, and voluntarily submit to such 
austerities, and acts of self-denial, as are looked upon by the 
majority of the people to be the external and visible marks of 
true holiness. They travel naked, even in frost and snow, 
with no other covering but a twist of straw girt round their 
loins. This penance is complied with, in order either to per¬ 
form their solemn vows made in times of distress, or with the 
pleasing prospect of drawing down some singular blessing 
of the gods upon them ; and they are such great strangers to 
the occupation of begging, that they will not accept of the 
least charitable contribution, even when offered to them. 

There is another set of people who dedicate themselves en¬ 
tirely to Amidas, whose very title plainly shows the devotion 
to which alone they are inviolably attached; that is, to repeat, 
as often as possible, the Namanda, or prayers, which the Japa¬ 
nese likewise distinguish by the name of Nambutz. They 
are a sort of religious body, or confraternity; and both ci¬ 
tizens and gentlemen enter themselves as ^members of their 
society; but the majority of them, indeed, consist of vulgar 


528 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


people, who assemble in the streets, and places of the most 
public resort. There, they either sing or repeat the Namanda to 
the tinkling of a little bell, which they make use of to gather 
round about them a crowd of passengers, and especially of 
such credulous devotees, who are of opinion that prayers are 
always effectual, let the person w r ho pronounces them be ever 
so impious or hypocritical. As these prayers, according to 
the exalted idea, which the Japanese entertain of them, are 
highly conducive to the consolation and relief of their friends 
and relations, who are doing penance in another world, every 
one contributes some charitable benefaction, to extenuate the 
torments of their deceased friends. The members of this 
society are very punctual in the relief of each other under any 
misfortunes whatsoever; and this mutual testimony of their 
love and friendship is the basis and foundation of their order. 
They bury the dead themselves, and contribute out of their 
own private stock, or the alms which they collect, towards the 
interment of those who are unable, through their necessitous cir¬ 
cumstances, to bear the expense. When any devotee of wealth 
and reputation presents himself to be a member, they ask him 
in the first place if he bewailing to contribute, as far as in him 
lies, towards the interment of any deceased brother. If he 
refuse to enter upon this engagement, he is peremptorily denied 
admittance. 

The Japanese say their prayers upon a rosary or a chaplet. 

. Each sect has one peculiar to itself; that belonging 

leirprayeis. sec j. 0 f Seodosin consists of two circles, one 

over the other. The first, or uppermost, consists of forty beads, 
and the lowest of thirty. The sects of Ikosia and Sensju have 
each their respective chaplets. The latter is made use of by 
the Chinese, as well as the Japanese, and is called in the lan¬ 
guage of the latter Fiakmanben. These are their most remarka¬ 
ble chaplets, by the assistance of which these islanders count 
their prayers, which are much longer than those of the Roman 
Catholics. They are obliged to repeat them a hundred and eight 
times over, because the Bonzes assure them, that there are as 
many different sins, which render a man polluted and unclean ; 
and against each of their attacks, a faithful and true member of 
the Japanese church, ought always to be provided with a proper 
prayer for his spiritual defence. Every morning, as soon as 
ever they rise, they are obliged to make some ejaculatory 
prayer, lifting up the fingers of their right hand. The Japa¬ 
nese imagine, that by this devout precaution, they shall frus¬ 
trate the wicked devices of the devil. 

The Emperor of Japan was formerly the Dairi himself. 









* 


m 









Laplanders offering sacrifices to Idols, p 558. 



Festival of the Japanese, o. 5*27. 










































JAPANESE. 529 

who, though of race divine, is not honoured with the illustri¬ 
ous title of Mikotto, which is only ascribed to -pheir Dairi 
those gods and demi-gods, who were his ances¬ 
tors. However, his title of Ten-sin is very august and glorious, 
the signification of it being no less than the Son of Heaven. 
In their common discourse, indeed, he is only called the Dairi: 
his person is looked on as sacred ; and he is never permitted 
to touch the ground with his sacred feet. It is derogatory to his 
dignity to walk ; and for that reason, whenever he appears in 
public, his guards carry him upon their shoulders. He is never 
exposed to the inclemency of the air, nor the heat of the sun ; 
and so sacred is his person, that no one must presume to touch 
his beard, hair, or nails, unless they take the favourable oppor¬ 
tunity, whilst he is asleep, to rob him of those excrescences, 
which, if neglected, would appear slovenly and indecent. 
Formerly this prince was obliged to expose himself every 
morning to public view, for several hours together; at which 
time, he appeared seated on his throne, with his crown upon 
his head ; his eyes, hands, and feet, were all kept fixed, and 
his whole body seemed as immoveable as a statue. On this 
grotesque posture, the tranquillity, in short, of the whole king¬ 
dom entirely depended. But this ceremony is now done away; 
he has at present no business upon his hands, but to consult 
his ease and his diversions. Every dish that is served up at 
his table, and every plate laid upon it, must be perfectly new. 
By the established rules of their ceremonial, every implement, 
of what nature or kind soever, that is once made use of at his 
table, must never be brought before him any more ; they must 
be wholly destroyed and broken to pieces; for which reason 
his furniture is very cheap and very ordinary. Should they 
be preserved, the consequence, it seems, might prove fatal to 
other people: for the superstitious Japanese are of opinion, 
that if a layman should through inadvertency eat off a plate 
that had been served at the table of his Holiness, he would 
immediately be tormented with a sore mouth, and an inflam¬ 
mation in his throat. Upon the same principle, should a layman 
presume to put on any vestment whatever belonging to the 
Dairi, without express orders from the emperor, his body 
would infallibly be bloated like one that has been poisoned. 

As soon as ever the throne of the Dairi becomes vacant, a 
successor is elected without the least regard either to age or 
sex; but proximity of blood is observed with the Election of 
utmost exactness, insomuch that sometimes an Dairi. 
infant is established on the throne, and some¬ 
times, likewise, the widow, and relict of the deceased monarch. 
45 


530 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


In case there be several candidates for the throne, and the 
right of primogeniture appears dubious and difficult to be de¬ 
cided, then each reigns alternately so many years, in propor¬ 
tion to their respective titles to this impotent royalty; for it 
may properly be called so, for notwithstanding the religious 
adoration, or something nearly allied to it, which is paid to 
this prince, yet his dignity is without authority, and it must 
never be exerted without the approbation of the emperor. He 
is a pope, and infallible with respect to the people; but his 
infallibility ceases, whenever it is repugnant to the interests of 
the secular monarch. Sometimes the Dairi abdicates his 
crown to promote his children, and in that case, if he have a 
numerous issue, he has the pleasure to see some part of their 
reign before he dies. 

The Dairi, in general, wears a black tunic, under a scarlet 
robe, with a large veil over it, made something like our crape, 

Dress the binges of which fall over his hands; and 

upon his head he has a cap, embellished with 
divers tufts or tassels. All his court distinguish themselves 
from the laity by their dress. Their various habits like¬ 
wise denote their respective quality and functions. It would 
be tedious to expatiate on this variety of their attire, the most 
remarkable circumstance consisting principally in the fashion 
of their cap, which is the mark of their distinction. Some 
wear it with a crape band, either twisted or hanging loosely 
down ; others with a piece of silk, which falls over their eyes. 
They likewise wear a scarf over their shoulders, which may 
properly be called their ceremonial. When they pay their 
respects, their conge must be made only so low, as that the 
bottom of the scarf may just sweep the ground; and for that 
reason, as there are degrees of quality amongst them, the 
scarf is either longer or shorter, in proportion thereto, and 
consequently their salutations are either more or less sub¬ 
missive. 

When the Dairi was supreme head of the kingdom, he had 
no fixed place of residence; but at present, both he and his court 

Authority of are sett ^ e( ^ at Miaco. The emperor allows him 
the Ddiri. * a very strong life-guard, under the specious pre¬ 
tence of paying him those honours which are due 
to his rank and dignity, and of securing his sacred person 
from any public or private insults. It was about the middle 
of the twelfth century, that the Dairi was dispossessed of his 
sovereignty. Before that time, the civil and ecclesiastical 
power was concentrated in one and the same monarch ; and 
for a considerable time after this revolution, the secular prince 


JAPANESE. 


531 


was so modest, as to be contented with the title of general or 
viceroy of the crown, and willing to submit some part of the 
civil authority to the supreme head of the church, till the 
reign of Taiko, who, in the year 1585, made himself abso¬ 
lute monarch, and left the other the empty title only of a 
prince, without any authority to support his power. 

It is the Dairi’s province to canonize their saints, by which 
must be understood the deification or exaltation of their illus¬ 
trious nobility, to the rank of heroes and demi-gods after their 
decease. The Dairi himself, who is vice-god upon earth, is 
by his dignity entitled to canonization. He imagines him¬ 
self, even in his present state of humanity, so pure and holy, 
that the Geges (for so they call the laymen) are umvorthy to 
appear in his presence. It is a received opinion amongst 
them, that all the gods condescend to pay him a formal visit 
once a year, that is, in their tenth month ; for which reason it 
is called the month without a God; and as they are all as¬ 
sembled at the court of their earthly vicegerent, nobody pays 
them any divine adoration during their residence here below. 

The gods, who visit the Dairi, are obliged to watch round 
his sacred person night and day, during the whole visitation- 
month. Father Floes assures us, that three hundred and 
sixty-six idols lodge in the Dairi’s palace, and that a select 
number stand guard around his bed alternately every ni<ght. 
It is added, that if he happen to have a restless night, the idol 
upon duty is immediately bastinadoed, and banished the court 
for a hundred days. In short, the Dairi is held in such high 
veneration in Japan, that the water in which that prince washes 
his feet, is looked upon as very sacred. It is stored up with 
the utmost precaution, and no one must presume to make use 
of it for any profane purposes whatsoever. 

The Budsdoists have a very large number of pagods, com- 
modiously and agreeably situated, and in them are several 
altars, images, and statues, as tall as men, all p a o- 0 ds. 
gilt; but the whole is rather neat than magnifi¬ 
cent. As the religion of Budsdo is divided into several 
branches, each division has its peculiar mode of worship, with 
proper pagocls and priests; and both are dependent on one su¬ 
perior church; in which particular, there is but a trivial dif¬ 
ference between them and us. Near these pagods are situated 
the convents, which are plentifully stored with monks, whose 
profession or trade it is to make atonement for the sins both of 
the living and the dead. There are some monks amongst 
these sects who are allowed to marry, and even to educate 
their male issue in the convent where they are born. 



PAGAN NATIONS. 


KOQ 


There are various orders of hermits, nuns, &c. in Japan. 
Our limits will permit us to notice such only as are most dis- 

Hermits tinguished. Among- the former are the Jam- 
mabos, or soldiers of the mountains. By their 
institution they are taught to fight manfully, on all occasions, 
in defence of their gods, and the established religion. The 
solemn vow which they make, is to renounce all temporal ad¬ 
vantages for the prospect of eternal happiness, and it is with 
this godly view that they undergo the severest mortifications, 
impose upon themselves the most arduous undertakings, ascend 
the most craggy mountains, and wash themselves frequently 
in the coldest water in the depth of the severest winter. The 
more affluent of these Jammabos have their respective habita¬ 
tions ; but the poorer sort rove about from place to place, and 
beg for their daily sustenance. 

The monks of these orders dress like laymen; but their 
usual dress is embellished with some decorations that are 
rather uncommon. They wear a sabre in their girdles, a 
little staff'in their hands, with a brass head, and four rings of 
the same metal; and in order to excite the charity and com¬ 
passion of those who pass by them, they also carry a shell, 
which in fashion and sound resembles a horn. They fre¬ 
quently wave their staves as they are muttering some particu¬ 
lar expressions in their prayers. 

They wear about their necks a scarf, or rather a silk band, 
adorned with fringes, which is longer or shorter, according to 
their respective qualifications. The form and beauty of their 
fringes likewise distinguish their quality, and their cap is 
made according to a very singular fashion. They carry a 
wallet upon their backs, with a book in it, a little money, and 
a coat. They wear sandals on their feet, composed either of 
straw, or the stalks of the flower lotos. This is not, however, 
the only plant that is looked upon as sacred; for the Japanese 
entertain the same idea of the fir and the bamboo. They 
imagine, that these plants have a supernatural influence over 
their future fortunes. The bamboo is deposited in the armo¬ 
ries of the emperor of Japan, and his subjects look upon that 
and fire, as emblems of his sacred majesty. 

These hermits, who originally professed Sintoism in its 
utmost beauty and extent, have entirely degenerated from their 
first institution. Their laws were severe, and their establish¬ 
ment simple ; but they have gradually forsaken and neglected 
the austerity of the former, and the plainness of the latter. 
They have blended the worship of strange gods with their Sin¬ 
toism, and all the superstitions and ceremonies of the Indies are 


JAPANESE. 


533 


added to their theology. By their laws they are obliged to 
climb up to the summit of the most craggy mountains; this 
penance, however, is never performed at present, but with ap¬ 
parent indifference and inattention. As their habitations are 
generally adjacent to some Mia, they, in a very earnest and 
noisy manner* beg the charity and benevolence of all those 
who pass by, in the name of the illustrious Cami, to whose 
service their temple is peculiarly devoted ; at the same time, 
giving them a long and tedious detail of his life, character, 
and miracles, attended with a preposterous agitation of their 
staves, on which a large number of copper rings are fastened ; 
in the inharmonious sound of a kind of sea-horn, of which 
they make use instead of a trumpet. Their children likewise 
join in the chorus, and are as noisy and importunate as their 
parents. 

The Bikunis is an order of mendicant nuns in Japan, who 
take on themselves the habit either from the compulsion of 
their parents, or to gratify their own vicious Nung 
inclinations. These female devotees are in gene¬ 
ral perfect beauties. The poorer classes, having several 
daughters, endeavour to promote those who are young and 
handsome to this mendicant profession; and some of them 
solicit it for themselves, from a secret persuasion that the 
strongest motive to love and compassion is beauty. The 
Jammabos make no scruple of selecting their wives out of this 
society of Bikunis, or entering their daughters as religious 
members among them. This order of young ladies, may 
with propriety be styled the nuns of Venus, for there are 
several of them, who after they have been so complaisant to 
the public, as to devote their charms for some time to its ser¬ 
vice, dedicate the remainder of their youth and beauty to this 
sociable retreat; in short, they have no one mark of sanctity 
about them, but their tonsure; being obliged by the rules of 
their order to be shaved. 

The following is a description of the nuptial ceremony: 
the bridegroom and the bride go out of town, by two different 
ways, with their respective retinues, and meet N tial ce _ 
by appointment at the foot of a certain hill. In remonies, 
the retinue of the former, independently of his 
friends and relations, are many carriages loaded with provisions. 
Having arrived at the hill, to the summit of which they ascend 
by a flight of stairs made on purpose, they there enter a tent, 
and seat themselves, one on the one side, and the other on the 
other, like plenipotentiaries assembled at the congress of peace. 
The parents of both parties place themselves behind the bride, 
45* . 


534 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


and a band of music range themselves behind the bridegroom, 
but all without the precincts of the tent. Both their retinues 
stay below at the foot of the hill. The bridegroom and the 
bride, each with a flambeau, then present themselves under 
the tent, before the God of Marriage, who is placed upon an 
altar there, having the head of a dog, which is a lively emblem 
of the mutual fidelity requisite in a state of wedlock. The 
string in his hands is another symbol of the force and obliga¬ 
tion of its bands. Near the god, and between the two parties, 
stands a bonze, whose office is to perform the marriage cere¬ 
mony. There are several lighted lamps at a small distance 
from the tent, at one of which the bride lights the flambeau 
Avhich she holds in her hand, pronouncing at the same time 
a form of words, which are dictated to her by the bonze ; after 
this the bridegroom lights his taper or flambeau, by that of his 
intended bride. This part of the ceremony is accompanied with 
loud acclamations of joy, and the congratulations of all the 
friends and relations then present of the newly-married couple. 
At the same time the bonze dismisses them with his benedic¬ 
tion, and their retinue make a large bonfire at the foot of the 
hill, in which are thrown all the toys and play-things with 
which the young bride amused herself in her virgin state. 
Others produce a distaff and some flax before her, to intimate, 
that from thenceforward she must apply herself to the prudent 
management of her family affairs. The ceremony concludes 
with the solemn sacrifice of two oxen to the God of Marriao-e. 

o 

After this the newly-married couple return with their retinues, 
and the bride is conducted to her husband’s house, where she 
finds every room in the most exact order, and embellished in 
the gayest manner. The pavement and the threshold are 
strewed with flowers and greens, whilst flags and streamers 
on the housetops seem to promise nothing but one continued 
series of delight, which may continue unfeigned, in all proba¬ 
bility, the time of the nuptials, which are celebrated eight days 
successively. 

The Japanese burn their dead. If the deceased be a person 
of distinction, all his friends and relations, dressed in mourn- 

Funeral so- in £’ re P a ^ r to l ^ e place appointed for burning the 
lemnities. corpse, about an hour before the funeral pro¬ 
cession. They are preceded by several com¬ 
panies of bonzes. The deceased, seated in a coffin, is carried 
by four men; his head is somewhat inclined forwards, and 
his hands closed, as if in a praying posture. The spot where 
the body is burned is surrounded with four walls, covered with 
white cloth, the four gates only excepted, through which they 


TARTARS. 


535 


are to enter. These gates front the four cardinal points of 
the compass. They dig a deep grave in the middle, which is 
filled with wood, and on each side a table is placed, covered 
with all manner of provisions. On one of them stands a little 
chafing dish, like a censer, full of live coals and sweet wood. 
As soon as the corpse is brought to the brink of the grave, 
they fasten a long cord to the coffin, which is made like a 
little bed for the deceased to lie on. After they have carried 
the little bed in form thrice round the grave, they lay it on the 
funeral pile, whilst the bonzes and relations of the deceased 
call incessantly on the name of his tutelary idol. After this, 
the superior bonze, that is, he who marched at the head of 
the procession, walks three times round the corpse with 
his lighted taper, waving it three times over his head, and 
pronouncing some mystic words, to the meaning of which the 
assistants themselves are perfect strangers. The last action 
denotes that the soul exists from all eternity, and will never 
cease to be ; but this emblem seems forced and very obscure. 
After this lie throws away his taper, and two of the near¬ 
est relations to the deceased taking it up, wave it thrice over 
the corpse, and then toss it into the grave. But, according to 
Crasset, the bonze gives it to the youngest son of the decea¬ 
sed, who, after there has been a considerable quantity of oils, 
perfumes, and aromatic drugs poured into the grave, throws his 
torch into it. During the time that the body is consuming in 
the flames, the children, or nearest relations of the deceased, 
advance towards the censer that stands upon the table, put 
perfumes into it, and then worship and adore it. This cere¬ 
mony being concluded, the friends and relations of the de¬ 
ceased withdraw, leaving none but the populace and the poor 
behind them, who either eat or carry home the entertainment 
provided for the deceased. 

SEC. III.-RELIGIOUS TENETS, CEREMONIES, AND CUSTOMS 

OF THE THIBETIANS AND TARTARS. 

The name of the Grand Lama is given to the sovereign 
pontiff or high-priest, of the Thibetian Tartars, who reside at 
Patoli, a vast palace on a mountain near the 
banks of Barampooter, about seven miles from Grand Lama. 
Lahassa. The foot of this mountain is inha¬ 
bited by twenty thousand lamas, or priests, who have their 
separate apartments around the mountain ; and, according to 
their respective qualities, are placed nearer, or at a greater 
distance from, the sovereign pontiff He is not only worship 


536 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


ped by the Thibetians, but also is the great object of adora¬ 
tion for the various tribes of heathen Tartars who roam 
through the vast tract of continent which stretches from the 
banks of the Wolga to Correa, on the sea of Japan. He is 
not only the sovereign pontiff the vicegerent of the Deity on 
earth, but the more remote Tartars are said to absolutely re¬ 
gard him as the Deity himself, and call him God , the ever¬ 
lasting Father of Heaven. They believe him to be immor¬ 
tal, and endowed with all knowledge and virtue. Every year 
they come up from different parts to worship, and make rich 
offerings at his shrine. Even the emperor of China, who is 
a Manchou Tartar, does not fail in acknowledgments to him in 
his religious capacity; and he actually entertains, at a great 
expense in the palace of Pekin, an inferior Lama, deputed as 
his nuncio from Thibet. The Grand Lama, it has been said, 
is never to be seen but in a secret place of his palace, amidst 
a great number of lamps, sitting cross-legged on a cushion, 
and decked in every part with gold and precious stones ; where 
at a distance the people prostrate themselves before him, it not 
being lawful for any so much as to kiss his feet. He returns 
not the least sign of respect, nor ever speaks, even to the 
greatest princes; but only lays his hand upon their heads, 
and they are fully persuaded they receive from thence a full 
forgiveness of all their sins. 

The Sunniasses, or Indian pilgrims, often visit Thibet as a 
holy place ; and the Lama always entertains a body of two or 
three hundred in his pay. Besides his religious influence 
and authority, the Grand Lama is possessed of unlimited 
power throughout his dominions, which are very extensive. 
The inferior Lamas, who form the most numerous, as well 
as the most powerful body in the state, have the priesthood 
entirely in their hands; and, besides, fill up many monastic 
orders, which are held in great veneration among them. The 
whole country, like Italy, abounds with priests ; and they en¬ 
tirely subsist on the great number of rich presents which are 
sent them from the utmost extent of Tartary, from the empire 
of the great Mogul, and from almost all parts of the Indies. 

The opinion of those who are reputed the most orthodox 
among the Thibetians is, that, when the Grand Lama seems 
to die, either of old age or infirmity, his soul, in fact, only 
quits a crazy habitation, to look for another, younger or bet¬ 
ter: and it is discovered again in the body of some child by 
certain tokens, known only to the Lamas or Priests, in which 
order he always appears. 

Almost all the nations of the east, except the Mohamme- 


TARTARS. 


537 


dans, believe the metempsychosis as the most important article 
of their faith ; especially the inhabitants of Thibet and Ava, 
the Peguans, Siamese, the greatest part of the Chinese and 
Japanese, and the Monguls and Kalmucks, who changed the 
religion of Schamanism for the worship of the Grand Lama. 
According to the doctrine of this metempsychosis, the soul is 
always in action, and never at rest: for no sooner does she 
leave her old habitation, than she enters a new one. The 
Dalay being a divine person, can find no better lodging than 
the body of his successor; or the Fo, residing in the Dalay 
Lama, which passes to his successor; and this being a god, 
to whom all things are known, the Dalay Lama is thereiore 
acquainted with every thing which happened during his resi¬ 
dence in his former body. 

This religion is said to have been of three thousand years 
standing; and neither time, nor the influence of men, has 
had the power of shaking the authority of the Grand Lama. 
This theocracy extends as fully to temporal as to spiritual 
concerns. 

Though in the grand sovereignty of the Lamas, the tem¬ 
poral power has been occasionally separated from the spiritual 
by slight revolutions, they have always been united again 
after a time; so that in Thibet the whole constitution rests on 
the imperial pontificate in a manner elsewhere unknown. 
For as the Thibetians suppose the Grand Lama is-animated 
by the god Shaka, or Fo, who at the decease of one Lama 
transmigrates into the next, and consecrates him an image of 
thedivtnity, the descending chain of Lamas is continued down 
from him in fixed degrees of sanctity: so that a more firmly 
established sacerdotal government, in doctrine, customs, and 
institutions, that actually reigns over this country, cannot be 
conceived. The supreme manager of temporal affairs is no 
more thap the viceroy of the sovereign priest, who, confor¬ 
mable to the dictates of his religion, dwells in divine tranquil¬ 
lity in a building that is both temple and palace. If some of 
his votaries in modern times have dispensed with the adora¬ 
tion of his person, still certain real modifications of the Shaka 
religion is the only faith they profess, the only religion they 
follow. The state of sanctity which that religion inculcates, 
consists in monastic confidence, absence of thought, and the 
perfect repose of nonentity. 

To give as clear an account as possible of this religion, 
little more is required than to extract the ample account given 
of it in a description of Thibet, published in Green’s Collec¬ 
tion of Voyages, and re-published in Pinkerton. 


538 


pagan nations. 


Friar Horace says, that in the main the religion of Thibet 
is the counterpart of the Romish. They believe in one God, 

r- a f tVi anc ^ a fruity) tort full of errors ; a paradise, hell, 
Thibetians. 6 and purgatory, but full of errors also. They 
make suffrages, alms, prayers, and sacrifices for 
the dead; have a vast number of convents filled with monks 
and friars, amounting to thirty thousand; who, besides the 
three vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity, make several 
others. They have their confessors, who are chosen by their 
superiors, and receive their licenses from their Lama, as a bi¬ 
shop, without which they cannot hear confessions, or impose 
penances. They have the same form of hierarchy as in the 
Romish Church; for they have their inferior Lamas, chosen 
by the Grand Lama, who act as bishops in their respective 
diocesses, having under them simple Lamas, who are the reli¬ 
gious. To these may be added, the use of holy water, cross¬ 
es, beads, and other matters. 

The chief object of worship in this country, is the same 
which in China is called Fo, but by the Lamas in Thibet, La. 
This prince, who was born one thousand and twenty-six years 
before Christ, and reigned in a part of India, called Chantyen- 
cho, or as others say, Si-tyen, gave himself out to be God, 
assuming human flesh; and when he died, it was pretended, 
that he only withdrew for a while, and would appear again in 
a determinate time; as he actually did, if the testimony of his 
devout disciples, the writings of the primitive fathers amongst 
them, and, in short, the tradition and authority of the whole 
church, from age to age, down to the present, are at all to be 
regarded in proof. And this imposture has been practised since 
as often as there has been occasion for it: So that the god La, 
still lives, and is corporally present in the person of the Dalay 
Lama. In which respect, the church of Thibet has infinitely 
the advantage of the Romish, in as much as the visible head 
of it is considered to be God himself, not his vicar, or deputy; 
and the incarnate deity, who is the object of divine worship, 
appears alive in human shape to receive the peopled adora¬ 
tions : not in the form of a senseless bit of bread, or playing 
at bo-peep in a diminutive wafer, which would be too gross 
a cheat to impose on the understandings of the Thibetians, 
however ignorant and superstitious the missionaries, to their 
own shame, represent them. 

The Great Lama, who, as we said before, is La, or Fo 
incarnate, is, according to Grueber, called in the country, 

Titles of the L* ama Konju, or the Eternal Father. He is also 
Grand Lama, styled Dalay Lama. The same author says, 


TARTARS. 


539 


in another letter, that Great Lama signifies the Great High 
Priest, and Lama of Lamas; as he is also styled, the High 
Priest of High Priests. These last titles regard only his of¬ 
fice, or degree, in his ecclesiastical or religious capacity ; but 
with respect to his divine nature, or quality, which entitles 
him to be adored as God, they term him likewise the heavenly 
Father, ascribing to him all the attributes of the true deity; 
as, that he is omniscient, and that all things are open to his 
view, even the secrets of the heart. If, at any time, he asks 
questions, it is not, say they, for sake of information, but to 
remove the scruples of the incredulous and disaffected. They 
believe that Fo (or La) lives in him: hence those of his reli¬ 
gion in China call him Ho-fo, or the living Fo. In conse¬ 
quence of this persuasion, he is held to be immortal, and that 
when in appearance he dies, he only changes his abode; that 
he is born again in an entire body, and the happy place of his 
residence is revealed by certain pretended tokens, which the 
Tartarian princes themselves are obliged to learn of the other 
Lamas; who only know the child appointed by the preceding 
Grand Lama to succeed him. 

To keep up this opinion of his immortality, the Lamas after 
his death, seek, throughout the whole kingdom, for another 
person, as like unto him, in all respects, as may His successor , 
be, to supply his place; and thus he has under¬ 
gone a new resurrection, or incarnation, seven times since his 
first appearance. Bernier relates the matter thus, as he had 
it from a Lama physician. When the Great Lama is old, and 
ready to die, he assembles his council, and declares to them, 
that now he was passing into the body of a little child, lately 
bom ; that when this child, who was bred up with great care, 
was six or seven years of age, they (by way of trial) laid be¬ 
fore him a parcel of household goods mixed with his own, 
Avhich yet he could distinguish from the rest: and this, he 
said, was a manifest proof of the transmigration. 

Grueber says, that this belief is propagated by the policy of 
their kings, and those who are in the secret of this cheat, in 
conjunction with the Lama Konju. The missionaries rail hea¬ 
vily at this imposture, calling it wicked and diabolical, as if 
besides transubstantiation, which is worse, they had no other 
impostures in their own religion. But it is done, doubtless, out 
of envy; because they have none which redounds so much 
to the honour and wealth of themselves. 

Grueber says, the Great Lama sitteth, in a remote apart¬ 
ment of his palace, adorned with gold and silver, H oma g e pa^ 
and illuminated with lamps, in a lofty place to him. 


540 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


like a couch, covered with costly tapestry. In approaching 1 
him, his votaries fall prostrate with their heads to the ground 
and kiss him with incredible veneration. Thus, adds the Jesuit, 
hath the devil, through his innate malignity, transferred to 
the worship of this people that veneration which is due only 
to the Pope of Rome, Christ’s vicar, in the same manner as he 
hath done all the other mysteries of the Christian religion. 

The same author further observes, that he always appears 
with his face covered ; letting none see it but those who are 
in the secret: that he acts his part extremely well, while the 
Lamas or priests, who are perpetually about him, attend him 
with grea* assiduity, and expound the oracles that are taken 
from his .outh. Here it must bo noted, that Grueber learns 

yv 1 

all he writes concerning the Great Lama from the citizens of 
Barantola; for the missionaries could not see him, no Christian 
being admitted into his presence, nor, indeed, any body of a 
different religion, without adoring the pretended deity : how¬ 
ever, they took an exact copy of his picture, as it was exposed 
to view in the entrance of the palace; to which they paid the 
same veneration as to himself in person. 

Bentink tells us, that at the foot of the high mountain near 
Putala, whereon the Dalay Lama resides, about twenty thou¬ 
sand Lamas dwell in several circles round it, according as the 
rank and dignities which they possess, render them more 
worthy to approach the person of their sovereign pontiff 

According to the account transmitted by Regis, the Grand 
Lama sits cross-legged on a kind of altar, with a large and 
magnificent cushion under him ; where he receives the com¬ 
pliments, or rather adorations, not only of his own subjects, 
but of prodigious multitudes of strangers : who make long 
journeys to offer him their homage, and obtain his blessing. 
Some even travel there from India, who never fail to enlarge 
before him upon their own merit, and magnify the sufferings 
they have undergone in their painful pilgrimage. But next 
to the people of Thibet, the Tartars are most devoted to the 
Grand Lama, some of whom resort to Lasa from the most 
distant corners. 

Princes are no more excused from this servile adoration 
than the meanest of their subjects; nor do they meet with 
more respect from the Grand Lama, who never moves from 
his cushion, nor any other way returns the salute. He only 
lays his hand upon the head of the worshippers, who then 
think all their sins pardoned. The Lamas who drew the map 
observed, that in receiving the emperor’s ambassador, he did 
not kneel like the Tartar princes ; but when he inquired after 























. 















f 





Brarnin chained to the foot of a tree. p. 557, 



































































































































































































































TARTARS. 


541 


Kang-ki’s health, resting upon one hand, he only made a small 
motion, as if he intended to rise from his seat. He was at 
that same time dressed in a red habit of woollen frize, such 
as the common Lamas wear, with a yellow hat gilt. 

Grueber assures us that the grandees of the kingdom are 
very eager to procure the excrements of this divinity, which 
they usually wear about their necks as relicks. In another 
place, he says that the Lamas make a great advantage by the 
large presents they receive for helping the grandees to some 
of his excrements, or urine; for by wearing the first about 
their necks, and mixing the latter with their victuals, they 
imagine themselves to be secure against all bodily infirmities. 
In confirmation of this, Gerbillon informs us, that the Mongols 
wear his excrements pulverized in little bags about their 
necks, as precious relicks, capable of preserving them from 
all misfortunes, and curing them of all sorts of distempers. 
When this Jesuit was on his second journey into Western 
Tartary, a deputy from one of the principal Lamas, offered 
the Emperor’s uncle a certain powder, contained in a little 
packet of very white paper, neatly wrapped up in a scarf of 
very white taffety : but that prince told him, that as it was not 
the custom of the Manchews to make use of such things, he 
durst not receive it. The author took this powder to be ei¬ 
ther' some of the Great Lama’s excrements, or the ashes of 
something that had been used by him. 

Trophies are erected on the tops of the mountains in honour 
of the Great Lama, for the preservation of men and cattle. 
All the kings, who profess the religion of the great Lama, be¬ 
fore they are inaugurated, send ambassadors, with very rich 
presents, to crave his benediction, as a means to render their 


reign chappy. 

Formerly, the Dalay Lama was a mere spiritual prince; 
but he is now become a temporal one also, with a large patri- 
, mony ; the Chian of the Eluths, who conquered 
power ? 01 d it in the seventeenth century, having made him 
a present of it, which is a much larger patrimo¬ 
ny than that called St. Peter’s, usurped by the popes. Yet, 
for all this, Bentink informs us, that he does not meddle, in 


any sort, with the temporality of his dominions, or suffer any 
of his Lamas to meddle with it; but puts all secular matters 
under the government of two Khans of the Kalmucks, who 
are to furnish him with all things necessary for the mainte¬ 
nance of his family. When he has any political affairs to 
transact, it is the Deva, (or Tipa, a sort of plenipotentiary,) 


who acts under his orders. 

40 


542 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


The religion of the Great Lama seems to be more extended 
than any other in the world: for besides Thibet, which is its 
„ f , • native seat, it has spread itself over all the In¬ 
religion ,°&c, US dies, China, and Western Tartary, from one end 
to the other. It is true, the provinces of the In¬ 
dies and China, have many ages ago, thrown off his jurisdic¬ 
tion, and set up chief priests of their own, who have modelled 
the religion of their respective countries, according to their 
different fancies, or interest. But Thibet, and the greater part 
of Tartary, are still subject to him in spirituals. The better 
to govern this vast dominion, he constitutes deputies, or vicars, 
to officiate in his stead. These are called Hutuktus, or Khu- 
tuktus; which, according to Regis, are chosen from among 
the disciples of the Great Lama. It is esteemed a real happi¬ 
ness to be admitted into the number of these last, which never 
exceeds two hundred ; and they on whom the honour of Hu- 
tuktu is conferred are considered as so many lesser Fos; they 
are neither confined to the pagods, nor limited to Thibet, but 
settle where they please; and soon acquire great riches, by 
the offerings of their numerous worshippers. One of them 
who resided among the Kalka Mongols, about the beginning 
of the last century, set up for himself, in opposition to his mas¬ 
ter, assuming all the privileges and powers which the Grand 
Lama pretends to; and, in all likelihood, others from time to 
time will follow his example. 

For keeping up discipline and order in ecclesiastical matters 
there is a kind of hierarchy in Thibet, consisting of church 
officers, answering to the archbishops, bishops, and priests. 
They have also their priors, abbots, and abbesses, superiors, 
provincials, or such like degrees, for ordering what concerns 
the regular clergy. The Lamas, or priests, who preside over 
the temples throughout the country, are sent from the college 
of the Lama’s disciples before mentioned. The other Lamas 
officiate as assistants at divine service in the churches and 
monasteries; or go abroad on the mission into foreign countries. 

Regis says, the Lamas generally wear a woollen frize like 
ours, but narrower, and not so close ; yet it is lasting, and retains 
its colour. They use, besides the hat, different kinds of bon¬ 
nets, according to their several dignities; one of which is 
somewhat remarkable, as it resembles our bishops’ mitres, but 
they wear the slit before. 

The Great Lama’s colour is red; but as the emperor ot 
China has gained some footing' in Thibet, those of his party, 
as well as all the Mongol and Kalka Lamas, wear yellow. 
Bentink, speaking of these latter, observes, that they go habited 



TARTARS. 


543 


in long yellow robes, with great sleeves, which they bind 
about their waist with a girdle of the same colour, two fingers 
broad. They have the head and beard shaved very close, and 
wear yellow hats. They always carry a great pair of beads 
of coral, or yellow amber, in their hands, which they turn in¬ 
cessantly between their fingers, saying prayers to themselves 
after their manner. The nuns wear very nearly the same 
dress, excepting that they wear bonnets edged with fur, instead 
of hats, which the Lamas wear. 

There are several princes in Thibet, who assume the Lama 
habit, and under the titles of the Grand Lama’s principal offi¬ 
cers, act almost independently of him. The dignity of Lama 
is not limited to the natives of Thibet alone. The Tartars 
and Chinese, who are equally ambitious of this honour, go to 
Lassa to obtain it. 

The multitude of Lamas in Thibet is incredible, hardly a 
family being without one, either out of their devotion, or ex¬ 
pectations of preferment in the Grand Lama’s service. The 
rules of the Lamas are too many and burdensome, to be ob¬ 
served by one Lama; therefore they divide the load among 
them, one confining himself to this particular duty, and another 
to that; but they are all obliged to conform to celibacy, as well 
as to renounce worldly grandeur and employments. 

As to their character, if you will take it from their greatest 
adversaries, the missionaries, most of them are debauched; yet 
they govern princes, who give them the chief place in as¬ 
semblies, and are blindly followed by their votaries, who 
give the best of what they have. Some of them are tolerably 
skilled in medicine; others have some notion of astronomy, 
and can calculate eclipses. Bernier met with one of these 
Lama physicians at Kashmir, who came in the train of an 
ambassador from Great Thibet. He had with him a book of 
recipes, which he would by no means part with. 

The religion of these tribes is a mixture of Lamaism, Is- 
lamism, and Gentooism, partaking, in some cases, also of a 
resemblance of the corruptions of the Greek and 
Chinese and R oman churches. The idolatrous tribes prin- 

tar Tribes. ^ cipally follow the worship of the Grand Lama : 

but even a grosser species of idolatry is followed 
by some, of the Tartars, particularly some of the Cossacks, 
who inhabit the borders of China. 

Some of them are the grossest idolaters, and worship little 
rude images, which generally consist of a small bit of wood a 
few inches in length; the upper part is rounded off, and 
adorned with some rude marks to resemble the human fea- 


544 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


tures, and being thus prepared, the figure is dressed up in 
rags. In fine weather and prosperous seasons, they caress 
these ragged deities, but are apt to treat them very roughly 
when the contrary happens. 

Others of the Tartars profess a belief in the existence of one 
supreme God, the Creator of all things, who has divided the 
government of the world, and the destiny of men, among a 
great number of subaltern divinities, who are left to act ac¬ 
cording to their own pleasure, and consequently whose favour 
it is necessary to obtain by special acts of homage and attention. 

It is the custom among some of the Tartar nations to burn 
their dead, and inter their ashes on an eminence, upon which 
they raise a heap of stones, and place on it little banners : but 
the greater part of the Pagan Tartars bury their dead, and 
with each man his best horse and moveables, for his use in 
the other world. Others, however, throw their dead into open 
fields, to be devoured by the dogs, of which many run wild, 
and some are kept for this purpose. If the bodies are thus 
devoured by any number exceeding six, they think honourably 
of the deceased; otherwise he is a disgrace to his relations. 

On some of the skirts of the villages are seen tombs, which 
ere larger and better built than the houses ; each of them en¬ 
closes three, four, or five biers, of a neat workmanship, orna¬ 
mented with Chinese stuffs, some pieces of which are brocade. 
Bows, arrows, lines, and, in general, the most valuable articles 
belonging to these people, are suspended in the interior of the 
monuments, the wooden door of which is closed with a bar, 
supported at its extremities by two props. 

Although no external distinction seems to exist between the 
living inhabitants, yet the same cannot be said of the dead, 
whose ashes repose in a style of greater or less magnificence, 
according to their wealth; it is probable that the labour of a 
long life, would scarcely defray the expense of one of these 
sumptuous mausolea ; which, however, bear no comparison 
with the monuments of more civilized people. The bodies of 
the poorest inhabitants are exposed in the open air, on a bier, 
placed upon a stage, supported by stakes. They all appear to 
hold their dead in great veneration, and to employ the whole 
of their industry and ingenuity in procuring them an honour¬ 
able burial. They are interred with their clothes on, and the 
arms and implements that they made use of when alive ; and 
it would probably be esteemed sacrilege to take any of these 
away. 

The Mongols on the frontiers of China have built several 
temples in the countries which they inhabit: one of these is 




TARTARS. 


545 




near the river Tchikoi. It was formerly their 
principal temple, and the lama who officiated The Mongols, 
there had the superintendence of all the others. 

Theie is another spacious edifice of this kind, twenty-five 
wersts from the town of Selinginsk, to the south-west of the 
lake of Kulling Noor, which possesses the supremacy over 
four others. 

The Bouraits and Bourettes, of Mongol origin, were not 
known till the 17th century, the period of the conquest of the 

Part ,£ f f Sihe . ria by ,^t RllSSia , nS - They “ 1S0 The Bouraits. 
reside on the frontiers of China, in the government 

of Irkutzk, along the Angara and the Lena, to the south of 

Lake Baikal, and in Daouria. Their number is estimated at 

ninety-three thousand. Still attached to a roving life, they have 

no other habitations than huts made with poles, and covered 

with pieces of felt tied with hair ropes. The fire occupies the 

centre. The huts of each family form a small village. Their 

furniture is very simple: broad benches serve for a bed; they 

have a pillow of hair or feathers, under which they put the 

casket containing their most valuable effects. 

The religion of the Bouraits is a mixture of Lamaism and 
Shamanism. In their huts they have wooden idols, naked or 
clothed; others are of felt, tin, or lamb’s skin; and others 
again rude daubings with soot by the Shamans, who give 
them arbitrary names. The women are not allowed to ap¬ 
proach or to pass before them. The Bourait, when he goes out, 
or returns to his hut, bows to his idols, and this is almost the 
only daily mark of respect that he pays them. He annually 
celebrates two festivals in honour of them, and at these men 
only have a right to be present. The priests preside at a sa¬ 
crifice : a sheep is commonly chosen for the victim, which 
they slaughter by ripping open the belly; the heart is then 
taken out, and the Shaman places a small flock of wool cut 
from the back in the lungs, which ceremony is designed to 
preserve the other sheep from all kinds of diseases. The flesh 
is afterwards separated from the bones, dressed, and set before 
the idols, where it is left the whole time the Shaman is singing. 
When he has finished, he repeats fresh prayers, with abun¬ 
dance of ceremonies, throwing into the fire four spoonfuls of 
broth, and as many small pieces of meat; the rest is distributed 
among the company. Before he dismisses the assembly, the 
priests set up a flesh song, much more obstreperous than the 
first, accompanied with shivering, leaping, and howling, pro¬ 
nouncing the names of different demons, which makes the 
Bouraits believe that he is cursing them, and will thereby 
46 * 


546 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


prevent those spirits from injuring them or their herds. Par¬ 
ticular sacrifices take place on occasion of a journey, sickness, 
or accident. 

SEC. IV.-RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES, CEREMONIES, AND CUS¬ 

TOMS OF THE HINDOOS. 

The most singular people on the globe, in respect to reli¬ 
gion, are doubtless the Hindoos, or the inhabitants of Hin* 
General view dostan, a country in Asia, bounded S. E. by the 
of the religion Coromandel coast and Bay of Bengal, and ex- 
of the Hin- tending north to the boundary of Cashmere, be- 
doos - ginning in Lat. 8, and running to 35 N., near 

2000 miles in length. 

Of the great antiquity of this people, and of the permanency 
of their religion and customs, there appears no reasonable 
... grounds to doubt. In almost every respect, these 
ntiquities. are the same now as they were in the most an¬ 
cient periods of the history of India, of which we possess the 
most faint knowledge. It is supposed, however, by many 
authors, that the religion of Boodha,* which still remains in 
the Burman empire, Ceylon, &c. was in very remote times 
the prevalent religion of Hindostan. At present, it is the 
Brahminical. Brahma, the creating power; 
Vishnu, the preserver; and Siva, the destroyer, 
are their three greatest deities. Since, the creation of the 
world, how r ever, Brahma interests himself little with mundane 
affairs. He is regarded as the father of legislators; since from 
his ten sons all science and laws proceeded, while he himself 
was the author of the Vedas, or sacred books. Of his sons, 
Menou is the most celebrated. From him the Hindoos derive 
the institutes which bear his name. Brahma is represented 
with four hands, and a crown on his head. The image of the 
flamingo, on the wings of which he is supposed to fly, is con¬ 
stantly placed near the statue in the temple. His wife, whose 
name is Seraswatee, is regarded as the patroness of learning. 
Vishnu, whose province is to preserve and protect mankind, 
is represented as constantly attended by an eagle, or large 
brown kite, and as having four hands and a number of heads, 
emblematical of his omniscience and omnipotence. He is said 
to have passed through the different carnations, in all of which 
he destroyed the enemies of the human race. His wife, or 
female favourite, is Sree, the goddess of fortune and plenty. 

* This word is spelt differently by different authors. 



HINDOOS. 


547 


Siva is worshipped not only as a destroyer, hut also as a re¬ 
producer. His principal characters are Budra, Iswara, and 
Mahadeo. As the first, he is cruel; as the second, he is wor¬ 
shipped as the lord of all; and under the third name, he is 
known in the mountainous parts of India. He is a great fa¬ 
vourite with the common people. He is generally represented 
with only one head; the number of his hands varies from four 
to thirty-two. Round his neck there are strung a number of 
human skulls. His hat is the skin of the tiger or elephant.- 
His wife, Parvaty, is the goddess of time, and the punisher of 
evil doers. Besides these great deities, there is a number of 
inferior ones, the principal of whom are those who preside 
over death and hell; he gods of fire, of medicine, of the 
wind, and of the atmosphere. Ganesa, whom Sir William 
Jones justly compares to Janus, is invoked the first, by the 
Brahmins, in all sacrifices. His name, and that of Seraswa- 
tee, appear at the beginning of all writings; and his statue is 
placed on roads, and at the boundaries of villages, &c. There 
are two great sects among the Hindoos; the worshippers of 
Vishnu, and those of Siva. Formerly the worship of the for¬ 
mer appears to have predominated on the Coromandel coast, 
while on the opposite coast, especially in the neighbourhood 
of Bombay, that of Siva prevailed. The followers of Vishnu 
distinguished themselves by painting their faces with a hori¬ 
zontal line; the followers of Siva draw a perpendicular line. 
The gopee chunden, a white clay, taken from a holy tank 
near Positra in Guzerat, and chalk from the vicinity of the ce¬ 
lebrated temple of Dw r araca, in the same province, are used for 
this purpose, as w r ell as distinguishing the different castes. 
There is, however, very little difference in point of religion 
between these or any other Hindoo sects. 

Vishnu is believed to have undergone nine avatars, or in¬ 
carnations; the most celebrated is the eighth, w r hen he ap¬ 
peared as Krishna, and, by his victories, obliged the Hindoos 
to substitute the offering of images instead of human sacrifices, 
and milk for blood. The tenth incarnation of Vishnu has not 
yet taken place. The religion of the Hindoos is contained in 
their sacred books, called Vedas, the divine authority of which, 
how r ever, is rejected by the Jains in the south of India,—a sect 
w’ho differ in some important tenets from those w r ho follow the 
Brahminical religion. All the Hindoo sects believe in the 
immortality of the soul, transmigration, and a future state of 
rewards and punishments; but their faith in these important 
points is intermixed and debased by the most absurd legendary 
tales and mystical allegories. 



548 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


Having presented our readers with the foregoing general 
view of the religious system of the Hindoos, we shall proceed 
to such details in respect to their religious ceremonies and 
customs as our limits permit; observing, however, that such 
as would desire a full account of the various superstitious 
opinions and practices of this extraordinary people, may con¬ 
sult the ample account given by Dr. Ward, in his “ View of 
the History, Literature, and Religion of'the Hindoos.” 

The first objects of worship among the Hindoos are sup¬ 
posed to have been fire, air, water, earth, and space, together 

Wo 1 in with the heavenly bodies and aerial beings. But 
as such a system of mythology could in no wise 
account for the existence and government of the universe, later 
Hindoo theologians added three new gods, under the charac¬ 
ters of the Creator, the Preserver, and the Destroyer—Brah¬ 
ma, Vishnu, and Siva. Besides the gods already named, and 
others which might be named, the Hindoo worship extends 
to the various objects of nature, among which we may specify 
the following: 

1. The Worship of Human Beings. The Hindoos wor¬ 
ship their spiritual guides; also, Brahmuns, and their wives 
and daughters: and, among the Vamacharees, women of the 
lowest cast, and even prostitutes, are worshipped with rites too 
abominable to be recorded. 

2. The Worship of Beasts. The cow is an object of wor¬ 
ship, and receives the homage of the Hindoos at an annual 
festival. The very dung of the cow is eaten as an atonement 
for sin; and, with its urine, is used in worship. A Hindoo 
does not carry any thing out of his house in the morning, till 
he has rubbed his door-way with cow-dung. Notwithstanding 
this reverence, the bullocks employed in carrying burdens, 
and at the plough, are used more cruelly by the Hindoos than 
any other animals. Hunoomanu , the Monkey , has also been 
placed among the gods, as a form of Shivu. Temples of this 
god are to be seen, and in some places his image is worshipped 
daily; he is even chosen by many as their guardian deity. 
Hunoomanu bears some resemblance to Pan; and, like him, 
owes his birth to the god of the winds. The dog , the jackal, 
and a number of other animals, have also places among the 
Hindoo deities, though they are not greatly honoured. 

3. Worship of Birds. Gurooru, the carrier of Vishnoo, 
half a bird and half a man, has received deification, as well 
as his brother Uroonu, the charioteer of Vishnoo. Jutayoo, 
another bird, the friend of Ramu, receives divine honours; as 
do the eagle of Coromandel, (said to be an incarnation of 


HINDOOS. 


549 


Doorga,) the wag-tail, the peacock, the goose, and the owl j 
but the honours they receive are not of the highest kind. 

4. Worship of Trees. The Hindoos do not seem ever to 
have consecrated groves, but several trees they esteem sacred. 
Toolusee, a female raised to deity by Vishnoo, was cursed by 
Lukshmee, his wife, in a fit of jealousy, and turned into a 
tree of this name ; which the Hindoos preserve with great 
care near their houses, and erect pillars to its honour. The 
heads of these pillars, which commonly open like a cup, are 
filled with earth, and the plant is placed in them. Its leaves 
and wood are esteemed sacred ; and with the latter they make 
their beads, with which they repeat the names of their guar¬ 
dian deities. Several other trees receive almost an equal ho¬ 
mage. It is considered as a great sin among the Hindoos 
for any member of a family to cut down trees planted by an 
ancestor ; and the misfortunes of many a family have been 
ascribed to such an act of indiscretion. 

5. River Worship. The Hindoos not only reverence their 
rivers, but actually worship them, dividing them into male 
and female deities. But Gunga, (the Ganges,) both in their 
poems, their Pooranus, and in the superstitious customs of the 
natives, appears to rank highest among the river deities. She 
is declared to have descended from Vislmoo’s heaven; an an¬ 
niversary of which event is celebrated by particular festivi¬ 
ties. The most extravagant things are related in the Poora¬ 
nus respecting the purifying nature of these waters ; and se¬ 
veral works have been written to extol the saving properties 
of the Ganges. Its waters are carried to immense distances; 
every thing they touch becomes purified; crowds of Hindoos 
perform their worship on the river daily after purifying them¬ 
selves in the stream; the sick are laid on its banks, expecting 
recovery from the mere sight of this goddess; and it is 
reckoned a great calamity not to die within sight of 
Gunga. Many other rivers receive the honours of divine 
worship. 

6. Worship of Fish. Even the finny tribes are honoured 
by the Hindoos, though the worship paid to them is of an in¬ 
ferior sort. 

7. The Worship of Books is very common among this peo¬ 
ple. The low T er orders have such a profound respect for a 
book, that they think every thing in such a form must be di¬ 
vine. On several occasions a book is converted into an 
image, and worshipped with all the form used before the most 
popular idol. 

8. Worship of Stones. The Shalugramu, as a form of 



550 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


Vishnoo, is more frequently worshipped than any other idol 
in India, not excepting the Lingu itself; which perhaps ought 
to be placed next, and which is also a stone. The represent¬ 
atives of Punchanunu and other gods are shapeless stones. 
Marty images of idols sold in the markets are made of stone, 
and worshipped. 

9. A Log of Wood. The pedal with which rice is 
cleansed from the husk has also been raised to god ship by 
the Hindoos. 

The festivals of the Hindoos are numerous. Our limits 
. will permit us to notice only the following, name- 

estiva s. t ] ie festival in honour of the God Siva, and 

the festival of Juggernaut. 

In the month Choitru an abominable festival is celebrated 
in honor of Siva, which is thus described by Mr. Ward. In 
the year 1806 I went to Kaleeghatu, in com- 
S iv a estl ™ 0 pany with two or three friends, to witness these 
practices ; at which place we arrived about five 
o’clock in the morning. We overtook numerous companies 
who were proceeding thither, having with them drums and 
other instruments of music; also spits, canes, and different 
articles to pierce their tongues and sides. Some with tink¬ 
ling rings on their ancles were dancing and exhibiting in¬ 
decent gestures as they passed along, while others rent the 
air with the sounds of their filthy songs. As we entered 
the village where the temple of this great goddess is situated, 
the crowds were so great that we could with difficulty get our 
vehicles along, and at last were completely blocked up. We 
then alighted, and went amongst the crowd. But who can 
describe a scene like this ? Here, men of all ages, who in¬ 
tended to have their tongues pierced, or their sides bored, 
were buying garlands of flowers to hang round their necks, 
or tie round their heads; there, others were carrying their 
offerings to the goddess: above the heads of the crowd w r ere 
seen nothing but the feathers belonging to the great drums, 
and the instruments of torture which each victim was carry¬ 
ing in his hand. These wretched slaves of superstition w r ere 
distinguished from others by the quantity of oil rubbed on 
their bodies, and by streaks and dots of mud all over them: 
some of the chief men belonging to each company were co¬ 
vered with ashes, or dressed in a most fantastic manner, like 
the fool among mountebanks. For the sake of low sport, 
some were dressed as English women; and others had on a 
hat, to excite the crowd to laugh at Europeans. As soon as 
we could force our way, we proceeded to the temple of Ka- 




HINDOOS. 


551 

loe, where the crowd, inflamed to madness, almost trampled 
upon one anothei, to obtain a sight of the idol. TVe went up 
to the door-way, when a Brahmun, who was one of the own¬ 
ers of the idol, addressed one of my companions in broken 
English : “ Money—money—for black mother.” My friend 
not much liking the looks of his black mother, declared he 
should give her nothing. From this spot we went into the 
temple yard, where two or three blacksmiths had begun the 
work of piercing the tongues and boring the sides of these in¬ 
fatuated disciples of Shivu, or Siva. The first man seemed 
reluctant to hold out his tongue ; but the blacksmith, rubbing 
it with something like flour, and having a piece of cloth be¬ 
twixt his fingers, laid firm hold, dragged it out, and, placing 
his lancet under it in the middle, pierced it through, and let 
the fellow go. The next person whose tongue we saw cut, 
directed the blacksmith to cut it on a contrary side, as it had 
been already cut twice. This man seemed to go through the 
business of having his tongue slit with perfect sang froid. 
The company of natives were entirely unmoved, and the 
blacksmith, pocketing the trifling fee given by each for whom 
he did this favour, laughed at the sport. I could not help ask¬ 
ing, whether they were not punishing these men for lying. 
After seeing the operation performed on one or two more, we 
went to another group, where they were boring the sides. 
The first we saw undergoing this operation was a boy, who 
might be twelve or thirteen years old, and who had been 
brought thither by his elder brother to submit to this cruelty. 
A thread rubbed with clarified butter was drawn through the 
skin on each side with a kind of lancet having an eye like a 
needle. He did not flinch, but hung by his hands over the 
shoulders of his brother. I asked a man who had just had 
his sides bored why he did this? He said, he had made a 
vow to Kalee at a time of dangerous illness, and was now 
performing this vow: a bye-stander added, it was an act of 
holiness or merit. Passing from this group, we saw a man 
dancing backwards and forwards with two canes run through 
his sides as thick as a man’s little finger. In returning to 
Calcutta we saw many with things of different thicknesses 
thrust through their sides and tongues, and several with the 
pointed handles of iron shovels, containing fire, sticking in 
their sides. Into this fire every now and then they threw In¬ 
dian pitch, which for the moment blazed very high. I saw 
one man whose singular mode of self-torture struck me 
much: his breast, arms, and other parts of his body, were en¬ 
tirely covered with pins, as thick as nails or packing needles 




552 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


This is called vatiu-phora.* The person had made a vow to 
Shivu thus to pierce his body, praying the god to remove 
some evil from him. 

“ Some sunyasees at this festival put swords through the 
holes in their tongues; others spears ; others thick pieces of 
round iron, which they call arrows. Many, as a bravado, put 
other things through their tongues, as living snakes, bamboos, 
ramrods, &c. Others, to excite the attention of the crowd still 
more, procure images of houses, gods, temples, &c. and 
placing them on a single bamboo, hold them up in their 
hands, and put the bamboo through their tongues. In 1805, 
at Calcutta, a few base fellows made a bamboo stage, placed 
a prostitute upon it, and carried her through the streets, her 
paramour accompanying them, having one of her ancle orna¬ 
ments in the slit of his tongue. Another year, a man put his 
finger through the tongue of another person, and they went 
along dancing and making indecent gestures together. Others 
put bamboos, ropes, canes, the stalk of a climbing plant, the 
long tube of the hooka, &c. through their sides, and rubbing 
these things with oil, while two persons go before and two be¬ 
hind to hold the ends of the things which have been passed 
through the sides, they dance backwards and forwards, making 
indecent gestures. These people pass through the streets 
with these marks of self-torture. upon them, followed by 
crowds of idle people. They are paid by the towns or vil¬ 
lages where these acts are performed, and a levy is made on 
the inhabitants to defray the expense. On the evening of this 
day, some sunyasees pierce the skin of their foreheads, and 
place a rod of iron on it as a socket, and on this ro.d fasten a 
lamp, which is kept burning all night. The perscms bearing 
these lamps sit all night in or near Shivu’s temple, occasion¬ 
ally calling upon this god by different names. On the same 
evening, different parties of sunyasee's hold conversations re¬ 
specting Shivu in verse. 

“ On the following day, in the afternoon, the ceremony 
called Churuku, or the swinging by hooks fastened in the 

Churuku. back, is performed. The posts are erected in 
some open place in the town or suburbs; they 
are generally fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five cubits high. In 
some places a kind of worship is paid at the foot of the tree 
to Shivu, when two pigeons are let loose, or slain. In other 
parts, i. e. in the neighbourhood of Calcutta, the worship of 
Shivu is performed at his temple; after which the crowd pro- 


* Piercing with arrows. 








Ido! of the Laplanders, p.558 












































HINDOOS. 


553 


ceed to the swinging posts, and commence the horrid work of 
torture. The man who is to swing prostrates himself before 
the tree, and a person, with his dusty fingers, makes a mark 
where the hooks are to be put. Another person immediately 
gives him a smart slap on the back, and pinches up the skin 
hard with his thumb and fingers; while another thrusts the 
hook through, taking hold of about an inch of the skin ; the 
other hook is then in like manner put through the skin on the 
other side of the back, and the man gets up on his feet. As 
he is rising, some water is thrown in his face. He then mounts 
on a man’s back, or is elevated in some other way ; and the 
strings which are attached to the hooks in his back are tied to 
the rope at one end of the horizontal bamboo, and the rope at 
the other end is held by several men, who, drawing it down, 
raise up the end on which the man swings, and by their run¬ 
ning round with the rope the machine is turned. In swing¬ 
ing, the man describes a circle of about thirty feet diameter.” 

The festival of Juggernaut is annually held on the sea coast 
of Orissa, where there is a celebrated temple, and an idol of 
the god. The idol is a carved block of wood, Festival of 
with a frightful visage, painted black, and a dis- juggernaut, 
tended mouth of a bloody colour. He is dressed 
in gorgeous apparel, and his appellation is one of the nu¬ 
merous names of Vishnu, the preserving power of the uni¬ 
verse, according to the theology of the Bramins. On festival 
days, the throne of the idol is placed upon a stupendous move- 
able tower, about 60 feet in height, resting on wheels, which 
indent the ground deeply as they turn slowly under the pon¬ 
derous machine. He is accompanied by two other idols, his 
brother Balaram, and his sister Shubudra, of a white and 
yellow colour, each on a separate tower, and sitting on thrones 
of nearly an equal height. Attached to the principal tower, 
are six ropes, of the length and size of a ship’s cable, by which 
the people draAV it along. The priests and attendants are sta¬ 
tioned around the throne on the car; and occasionally address 
the worshippers in libidinous songs and gestures. Both the 
walls of the temple and sides of the car are covered with the 
most indecent emblems, in large and durable sculpture. Ob¬ 
scenity and blood are the characteristics of the idol’s worship. 
As the tower moves along, devotees, throwing themselves 
under the wheels, are crushed to death; and such acts are 
hailed with the acclamations of the multitude as the most ac¬ 
ceptable sacrifices. A body of prostitutes are maintained in 
the temple for the use of the worshippers; and various other 
systematic indecencies, which will not admit of description, 





554 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


form a part of the service. A number of sacred bulls are 
kept in the place, which are generally fed with vegetables from 
the hands of the pilgrims; but from the scarcity of the vege¬ 
tation, are commonly seen walking about, and eating the fresh 
ordure of the worshipping crowds. In the temple also, is 
preserved a bone of Krishna, which is considered as a most 
venerable and precious relic, and which few persons are al¬ 
lowed to see. 

The following account of the burning of a Gentoo woman, 
on the funeral pile of her deceased husband, is taken from the 
Voyages of Stavorinus, who was an eyewitness 
vfidow*^ a t0 ceremon y- “ We found,” says M. Stavo¬ 
rinus, “ the body of the deceased lying upon a 
couch, covered with a piece of white cotton, and strewed with 
betel-leaves. The woman, who was to be the victim, sat upon 
the couch, with her face turned to that of the deceased. She 
was richly adorned, and held a little green branch in her 
right hand, with which she drove away the flies from the 
body. She seemed like one buried in the most profound 
meditation, yet betrayed no signs of fear. Many of her rela¬ 
tions attended upon her, who, at stated intervals, struck up 
various kinds of music. 

“ The pile was made by driving green bamboo stakes into 
the earth, between which was first laid fire-wood, very dry 
and combustible; upon this was put a quantity of dry straw, 
or reeds, besmeared with grease: this was done alternately, 
till the pile was five feet in height, and the whole was then 
strewed with rosin finely powdered.—A white cotton sheet, 
which had been washed in the Ganges, was then spread over the 
pile, and the whole was ready for the reception of the victim. 

“ The widow was now admonished by a priest, that it was 
time to begin the rites. She was then surrounded by women, 
who offered her betel, and besought her to supplicate favours 
for them when she joined her husband in the presence of Ram, 
or their highest god ; and, above all, that she would salute their 
deceased friends whom she might meet in the celestial mansions. 

“ In the mean time, the body of the husband was taken 
and washed in the river. The woman was also led to the 
Ganges for ablution, where she divested herself of all her 
ornaments. Her head was covered with a piece of silk, and 
a cloth was tied round her body, in which the priests put some 
parched rice. 

“ She then took a farewell of her friends, and was conducted 
by two of her female relations to the pile. When she came 
to it, she scattered flowers and parched rice upon the specta- 


HINDOOS. 


555 


tors, and put some into the mouth of the corpse. Two priests 
next led her three times round it, while she threw rice among 
the bystanders, who gathered it up with great eagerness. The 
last time she went round, she placed a little earthen burning 
lamp to each of the four corners of the pile, then laid herself 
down on the right side, next to the body, which she embraced 
with both her arms, a piece of white cotton was spread over 
them both, they were bound together with two easy bandages, 
and a quantity of fire-wood, straw, and rosin, was laid upon 
them. In the last place, her nearest relations, to whom, on 
the banks of the river, she had given her nose-jewels, came 
with a burning torch, and set the straw on fire, and in a mo¬ 
ment the whole was in a flame. The noise of the drums, 
and the shouts of the spectators, were such, that the shrieks 
of the unfortunate woman, if she uttered any, could not have 
been heard. 

Voluntary suicide is considered an act of great merit. The 

person who is about to offer himself, is directed first to offer an 

atonement for all his sins, by making a present of 

gold to bramhuns, and honouring them with a Voluntary 
o ' j suicide 

feast; afterwards, putting on new apparel, and 

adorning himself with garlands of flowers, he is accompanied 

to the river by a band of music. If he has any property, he 

gives it to whom he pleases: then, sitting down by the side of 

the river, he repeats the name of his idol, and proclaims, that 

he is now about to renounce his life in this place, in order to 

obtain such or such a benefit. After this, he and his friends 

proceed in a boat, and fastening pans of water to his body, he 

plunges into the stream. The spectators cry out, “ Huree bul! 

Huree bul! Huzza ! Huzza !” and then retire. Sometimes a 

person of property kindly interferes, and offers to relieve the 

wants of the victim if he will abstain from drowning himself; 

but the deluded man replies, that he wants nothing, as he is 

going to heaven ! 

People in some parts of India, particularly the inhabitants 
of Orissa, and of the eastern parts of Bengal, frequently offer 
their children to the goddess Gunga. The fol- j n f ant icide 
lowing reason is assigned for this practice : when 
a woman has been long married, and has no children, it is 
common for the man, or his wife, or both of them, to make a 
vow to the goddess Gunga, that if she will bestow the bless¬ 
ing of children upon them, they will devote the first-born to 
her. If after this vow they have children, the eldest is nou¬ 
rished till a proper age, which may be three, four, or more 
years, according to circumstances, when, on a particular day, 


55G 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


appointed for bathing in any holy part of the river, they take 
the child with them, and offer it to this goddess : the child is 
encouraged to go farther and farther into the water, till it is 
carried away by the stream, or is pushed off by its inhuman 
parents. Sometimes a stranger seizes the child, and brings it 
up, but it is abandoned by its parents from the moment it floats 
in the water, and if no one be found more humane than they 
it infallibly perishes. The principal places in Bengal where 
this species of murder is practised, are Gunga-Saguru, where 
the river Hoogley disembogues itself into the sea ; Voidyuva- 
tee, a town about fourteen miles to the north of Calcutta; Tri- 
venee, Nudeeya, Chakduh, and Pruyagu. 

A sick person, after his removal to the banks of the Ganges, 
if he possesses sufficient strength, directs quantities of food, 
. garments, &c. to be presented to the bramhuns. 
at death 10 * 116 * That he may not be compelled to cross Voituru- 
nee, whose waters are hot, in his way to the seat 
of judgment, he presents to a bramhun a black cow. When 
about to expire, the relations place the body up to the middle 
in the river, and direct the dying man to call aloud on the 
gods to assist him in doing so. 

The burning of the body is one of the first ceremonies 
which the Hindoos perform for the help of the dead in a future 
state. If this ceremony have not been attended to, the shraddhu, 
or rites for the repose of the dead, cannot be performed. If a 
person be unable to provide wood, cloth, clarified butter, rice, 
water pans, and other things, beside the fee to the priest, he 
must beg among his neighbours. If the body be thrown into 
the river, or burnt, without the accustomed ceremonies, (as is 
sometimes the case,) the ceremonies may be performed over an 
image of the deceased, made of kooshu grass. 

Immediately after death, the attendants lay out the body on 
a sheet, placing two pieces of wood under the head and feet ; 
after which they anoint the corpse with clarified butter, bathe 
it with the water of the Ganges, put round the loins a new 
garment, and another over the left shoulder, and then draw 
the sheet on which the body lies, over the whole. The heir 
at law next bathes himself, puts on new garments, and boils 
some rice, a ball of which, and a lighted brand, he puts to the 
mouth of the deceased, repeating incantations. The pile 
having been prepared, he sets fire to it, and occasionally 
throws on it clarified butter and other combustibles. When 
the body is consumed, he washes the ashes into the river; 
the attendants bathe, and, presenting a drink-offering to the 
deceased, return home ; before they enter the house, how- 


LAPLANDERS. 


557 


ever, each one touches fire, and chews some bitter leaves, to sig¬ 
nify that parting with relations by death, is an unpleasant task. 

The Bramins undergo voluntary austerities of great seve¬ 
rity. Of one, Mr. Rogers gives the following account. After 
having finished various services, he went into 
the green on which the pagod stood, where two AusterltST 
bamboos were raised like poles, in the shape of 
a gibbet, at the top of which two ropes were fixed with a slip¬ 
knot. Underneath was a square pit, where he lighted a fire, 
and laid some sticks near it. After this he turned himself 
thrice round the fire, observing, by way of respect, to have 
the pit always at his right; then prostrating himself several 
times, he went up, twisted the ropes about his feet, then sus¬ 
pending himself with his head downwards, and his face 
turned towards the dame, he swung himself up and down 
like a bell, and increased the fire by throwing wood into it, 
which was in his reach. After this painful exercise, which 
lasted half an hour, he came down, went round the pit, and 
returning into the pagod, seated himself as before. In this 
manner did this Bramin exercise himself daily, not in the 
view of obtaining heaven, for that he looked upon as granted, 
but in order to attain a pure and exalted degree of felicity. 
However, he was censured by the rest of the Bramins, for 
violating, as they said, the law, in not having made choice of 
such a holy place as the Joguis are permitted to spend their 
whole lives in. 

Another Bramin had his head thrust through an iron collar 
of twenty-four pound weight, made like a rail, four feet in 
diameter at top. He had enjoined himself to carry it till 
such time as he had collected a great sum of money, in order 
to complete the building of an hospital. 

Two others had long heavy chains upon their legs, one 
end of which came over their shoulders, and the other dragged 
upon the ground after them. 

Another chained himself by the foot to a tree, with a firm 
resolution of dying in that place. 

Another walked in wooden shoes stuck full of nails in the 
inside: whenever he put them on he used to lie along the 
ground with his hands clasped. 

SEC . v.-RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS OF THE 

LAPLANDERS. 

From the time that so large a portion of Lapland fell under 
the dominion of Sweden, repeated attempts were made to con- 
47* 




558 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


vert the natives to the Christian faith ; and the same object 
was diligently prosecuted by the Danish government. The 
Laplanders, however, continued to retain a strong attachment 
to their ancient mythology ; and, even so late as the middle of 
the 18th century, a great part of the nation secretly worshipped 
idols, while publicly professing the Christian religion. 

To these idols were presented various offerings and sacri¬ 
fices. Upon any change of habitation, libations were made 
of whey or milk, to conciliate the guardian di- 
Sacrifices. vinity of the place ; and of brandy to the Lares 
or household gods, who were supposed to reside under the 
fire-place. To conciliate the favour of the deities to their 
children, sacrifices of sheep or deer were offered, before the 
child was born : a dog was buried alive at the moment of the 
birth; and some other animal killed when the infant was at 
the breast. Offerings and sacrifices were usually made for 
the removal of epidemic disorders, for success in hunting, &c. 
In these cases, sometimes the whole of the victim was pre¬ 
sented, sometimes only a part, sometimes merely the bones, 
while the blood was sprinkled upon staves, which were left 
on the spot, or mingled with the waters of an adjacent river 
or lake. The liver of a bear, the horns and other parts of a 
deer, taken in the chase, were very frequently consecrated to 
the deity of the place. 

The Laplanders, according to Picart, worship their gods 
under the form of a tree, or block of wood, the top of which 
they form into a rude resemblance of a man’s 
f 0 s ' head. In the head they were wont to drive a large 

nail, to which was fastened a flint stone, that he might make 
himself a fire whenever he found one needful. Sometimes 
their god was raised upon a kind of table, which served in 
capacity of an altar. Their domestic deity, or household god, 
they represented under the form of a large stone, carved in a 
rude manner, and bearing some resemblance to a human face. 
The sacrifices which were offered to these idols were presented 
by a privileged class of men, named Noaaids, who divided 
the victims with great expertness, and wore at the time of 
sacrificing a peculiar habit. 

The Laplanders still retain much of their ancient supersti¬ 
tious spirit, even in the Christian rites, which they have 

Present state. ado P ted - The Y particularly regard the sacra¬ 
ment as a powerful charm to preserve them from 
the attempts of evil spirits. It is not long since, they used to 
take a cloth with them to church, into which they were accus¬ 
tomed to spit out the sacramental bread, which they wrapped 


LAPLANDERS. 


559 


up with great care, and afterwards divided into as great a 
number as possible of small crumbs. One of these crumbs 
was given to every one of their cattle, in the full persuasion 
that the herd would thus be secure from all injury. Their 
very deficient acquaintance with Christianity may, in some 
measure, be ascribed to the very inefficient manner in which 
they are instructed. It has generally been the practice of the 
Missionaries and pastors to address the natives by means of an 
interpreter, and the attempts of the Danish government to re¬ 
medy this defect have hitherto proved unsuccessful. 

The Laplanders rarely intermarry with the Norwegian, or 
other neighbouring nations. Their matrimonial negotiations 
are conducted with extraordinary formality and 
decorum. When a young man has selected his aruage. 
object, he communicates his wishes to his own family, who 
repair in a body to the dwelling of the young woman’s pa¬ 
rents, carrying a slight present, such as a ring or ornamented 
girdle, to the fair one, and a quantity of brandy to entertain 
the friends. When arrived at the hut, the suitor is left with¬ 
out, till he shall be invited to enter ; and as soon as the rest 
of the party have entered, their spokesman fills out a bumper 
of brandy, which he offers to the girl’s father, and the accept¬ 
ance of which indicates his approbation of the match to be 
proposed. After the liquor has gone round the company, 
leave is obtained for the young man to present himself, while 
his advocate in a set speech opens the treaty. The lover, 
upon being introduced, takes his seat near the door, at some 
distance from the rest; and it is only when the parents of the 
girl have signified their full consent, that he offers her the 
present which he has brought, and promises wedding clothes 
to her father and mother. Sometimes a sum of money is 
given, both to the bride and to her parents; and not unfre- 
quently considerable bargaining is employed to raise the 
amount. All that the bride receives on this occasion becomes 
her own private property; and, among the better class, a 
wife, counting all expenses, commonly costs the husband 
about a hundred copper dollars. Should the parents depart 
from their promised consent, it is an established law, that they 
must repay all the expenses and presents, even to the brandy 
which has been drunk at the first visit. After the parties have 
been in this manner betrothed, the young man is allowed to 
visit the bride, whose favour he generally endeavours to con¬ 
ciliate bjr presenting tobacco, brandy, or whatever he thinks 
will be most acceptable. On the marriage day the bride ap¬ 
pears in her best dress, but her head, commonly closely 


560 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


covered, is, on this occasion, only adorned with a bandeau or 
fillet, while her hair flows loose upon her shoulders. The 
bans are usually published only once. The marriage cere¬ 
mony, which is very short, is sometimes performed before, 
and sometimes after the entertainment. The wedding feast is 
celebrated in a frugal and sober manner, without music, 
dancing, or any other festivity. Such of the guests as are 
able, make a present to the bride of money, rein-deer, or other 
useful articles, to begin the stock, or furnish the dwelling of 
the young couple. In some parts of Lapland it is the custom 
that the friends and relations of the parties meet together, a 
few days after the marriage, and partake of a homely enter¬ 
tainment, consisting usually of a mess of broth, a little roast 
mutton, and metheglin. The bridegroom usually remains 
with the parents of the bride, for the space of one year; and, 
at his departure, receives what portion they are able to give 
with their daughter, to establish the young people in the 
world. It is usual, at the birth of a child, to assign a female 
rein-deer, with all her future offspring, as a provision for the 
boy or girl, who is thus, when grown up, not unfrequently 
the owner of a considerable herd. 

The funerals of the Laplanders are conducted with little 
ceremony. The body, slightly wrapped in a coarse cloth, is 
carried to the grave by the friends and relatives, Funerals 
who are entertained with a slight repast, and a 
small portion of metheglin. In former times, it was the cus¬ 
tom to raise a heap of stones over the grave; but an old sledge, 
turned with its bottom upwards, is now the only monument 
placed over the spot of interment. Before the conversion of 
the Laplanders to Christianity, they placed an axe and tinder- 
box beside the corpse of a man ; and beside that of a woman, 
her needle and scissors, supposing them to require these im¬ 
plements in the other world. They likewise interred a quan¬ 
tity of provisions along with the dead body; and, during the 
first three years after the decease of a relative, were accus¬ 
tomed, from time to time, to deposit, in holes dug beside the 
grave, small quantities of tobacco, or of whatever was most 
agreeable to their departed friend during his lifetime. 

SEC. VI.-RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS OF INDIAN 

TRIEES. 

The aborigines of New England not only believed in a 
plurality of gods, who made and govern the several nations of 
the world, but they made deities of every thing they imagined 










Virginia Indians celebrating a victor.y p. 563. 





















































IROQUOIS. 


5G1 


to be great, powerful, beneficial, or hurtful to 
mankind; yet they conceived an almightv Be- In £ an f of , 
ing, who dwells in the south-west regions of the NeW Eng and ' 
heavens, to he superior to all the rest. This almighty Being 
they called Kichtan, who at first, according to their tradition*, 
made a man and a woman out of a stone; but, upon some 
dislike, destroyed them again, and then made another couple 
out of a tree, from whom descended all the nations of the 
earth: but how they came to be scattered and dispersed into 
countries so remote from one another, they cannot tell. They 
believed their supreme God to be a good being, and paid a 
sort of acknowledgment to him for plenty, victory, and other 
4 benefits. But there is another power, which they call hoba- 
mocko, (i. e. the devil,) of whom they stood in greater awe, 
and worshipped merely from a principle of fear. The im¬ 
mortality of the soul was in some sort universally believed ^ 
among them. When good men die, they said, their spirits go 
to Kichtan, where they meet their friends, and enjoy all man¬ 
ner of pleasures. When wicked men die, they go to Kichtan 
also; but are commanded to walk away, and to wander about 
in restless discontent and darkness for ever. 

The original inhabitants of Canada, like other heathen, had 
an idea of a supreme Being, whom they considered as the 
creator and governor of the world. It is said, ~ ,. 

that most of the nations which speak the Algon¬ 
quin language give this Being the appellation of the Great 
Hare, but some call him Michabou, and others Atahocan. 
They believe that he was born upon the waters, together with 
his whole court, who were composed of four-footed animals, 
like himself; that he formed the earth of a grain of sand 
taken from the bottom of the ocean ; and that he created men 
of the bodies of dead animals. Some mention a god of the 
waters, who opposed the designs of the Great Hare, who is 
called the Great Tiger. They have a third called Matcomek, 
whom they invoke in the winter season. 

According to the Iroquois, in the third generation there 
came a deluge, in which not a soul was saved; so that, in 
order to repeople the earth, it was necessary to i r0 q U0 is 
change beasts into men. Besides the first Be¬ 
ing, or Great Spirit, they hold an infinite number of genii, 
or inferior spirits, both good and evil, who have each their 
peculiar form of worship. They ascribe to these beings a 
kind of immensity and omnipresence, and constantly invoke 
them as the guardians of mankind; and they only address 
themselves to the evil genii, to beg of them to do them no 


562 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


hurt. They believe in the immortality of the soul, and say 
that the region of their everlasting abode lies so far westward, 
that the souls are several months in arriving at it, and have 
vast difficulties to surmount. The happiness that they hope 
to enjoy is not believed to be the recompense of virtue only, 
but to have been a good hunter, brave in war, &c. are the 
chief merits which entitle them to their paradise: this they and 
other American natives describe as a delightful countryblessed 
with perpetual spring, whose forests abound with game, 
whose rivers swarm with fish, where famine is never felt, but un¬ 
interrupted plenty shall be enjoyed without labour or fatigue.* 

The Indians of Virginia, gave the names of Okee , Quioccos, 
or Kiviasa, to the idol which they worshipped. These names 

Virginians possibly be so many epithets, which they 

varied according to the several functions they 
ascribed to this deity, or the different notions they might form 
to themselves of it in their religious exercises, and common 
discourses. Moreover, they were of opinion that this idol is 
not one sole being, but that there were many more of the same 
nature, besides the tutelary gods. They gave the general name 
of Quioccos to all these genii, or beings, so that the name of 
Kiwasa might be particularly applied to the idol in question. 

These savages consecrated chapels and oratories to this 
deity, in which the idol was often represented under a variety 
of shapes. They even kept some of these in the most retired 
part of their houses, to whom they communicated their affairs, 
and consulted them upon occasion. In this case they made 
use of them in the quality of tutelary gods, from whom they 
supposed they received blessings on their families. 

The sacerdotal vestment of their priests was like a wo¬ 
man’s petticoat plaited, which they put about their necks, 
and tied over the right shoulder; but they always kept one 
arm out to use it as the occasion required. This cloak was 
made round at bottom, and descended no lower than the mid¬ 
dle of the thigh: it was made of soft well-dressed skins, with 
the hair outwards. 

These priests shaved their heads close, the crown excepted, 
where they left only a little tuft, that reached from the top of 
the forehead to the nape of the neck, and even on the top of 
the forehead. They here left a border of hair, which, whether 
it was owing to nature, or the stiffness contracted by the fat 
and colours with which they daubed themselves, bristled up, 
and came forward like the corner of a square cap. 

♦ Hannah Adams’s Diet, of All Religions. 


VIRGINIANS. 


563 


The Virginians had a great veneration for their priests; 
and the latter endeavoured to procure it, by daubing themselves 
all over in a very frightful manner ; dressing themselves in a 
very odd habit, and tricking up their hair after a very whim¬ 
sical manner. Every thing they said was considered as an 
oracle, and made a strong impression on the minds of the peo¬ 
ple : they often withdrew from society, and lived in woods or 
in huts, far removed from any habitation. They were difficult 
of access; and did not give themselves any trouble about pro¬ 
visions, because care was always taken to set food for them 
near their habitations. They were always addressed in cases 
of great necessity. They also acted in the quality of plwsi- 
cians, because of the great knowledge they were supposed to 
have of nature. In fine, peace or war was determined by 
their voice, nor was any thing of importance undertaken with 
out first consulting them. 

They had not any stated times nor fixed days, on which 
they celebrated their festivals, but they regulated them only 
by the different seasons of the year. As for instance, they ce¬ 
lebrated one day at the arrival of their wild birds, another 
upon the return of the hunting season, and for the maturity 
of their fruits: but the greatest festival of all was at harvest 
time. They then spent several days in diverting themselves, 
and enjoyed most of their amusements, such as martial dances, 
and heroic songs. 

After their return from war, or escaping some danger, they 
lighted fires, and made merry about them, each having his 
gourd-bottle, or his little bell, in his hand. Men, women, and 
children, often danced in a confused manner about these fires. 
Their devotions in general consisted only of acclamations of 
joy, mixed with dances and songs ; except in seasons of sor¬ 
row and affliction, when they were changed into bowlings. 
The priests presided at this solemnity, dressed in their sacerdo¬ 
tal ornaments, part of which were the gourd-bottle, the petti¬ 
coat above-mentioned, and the serpents’ or weasels’ skins, the 
tails of which were dexterously tied upon their heads like a 
tiara, or triple-crown. These priests began the song, and al¬ 
ways opened the religious exercise, to which they often added 
incantations, part of the mysteries of which were compre¬ 
hended in the songs above-mentioned. The noise, the gestures, 
fhe wry faces, in a word, every thing contributed to render 
these incantations terrible. 

The deities of the ancient Mexicans are said to have ex¬ 
ceeded two thousand, who had their respective Mexjcans< 
temples, ceremonies, and sacrifices. There was 


564 


PA GAN NA i IONS. 


hardly a street without its tutelary divinity, nor was there 
scarcely a disease which had not its peculiar altar, to which 
the Mexicans flocked, in order to be healed. Their principal 
deity was Vitzliputzli, whom they considered the sovereign 
lord of all things, and creator of heaven and earth. The 
greatest god after Vitzliputzli was the Sun. Another of their 
divinities, was Tlaloch , whom some writers confound with 
Tescalipuca. Bat these were considered brothers, of equal 
strength, and so similar in disposition, that the sovereign 
power of war was divided between them. Tescalipuca was, 
however, more appropriately the god of penance, whom the 
Mexicans invoked in seasons of adversity. The Mercury and 
Plutus of the Mexicans, the former of whom was sometimes 
called Quilzalcoalt , was represented under a human shape, 
except that it had the head of a bird, with a painted paper 
mitre upon its head, and a scythe in its hand. The body of 
it was covered with jewels of extraordinary value. Besides 
the foregoing, the Mexicans worshipped various other deities, 
among whom we shall mention only Tozi, a beautiful woman, 
for whom, at her death, Vitzliputzli procured divine honours. 
Nearly all their divinities were clothed with terror, and de¬ 
lighted in vengeance. The figures of serpents, of tigers, and 
of other destructive animals, decorated their temples. Fasts, 
mortifications, and penances, all rigid, and many of them ex¬ 
cruciating to an extreme degree, w r ere the means which they 
employed to appease the wrath of the gods. But of all offer¬ 
ings, human sacrifices were deemed the most acceptable. At 
the dedication of the great temple at Mexico, it is reported 
there were 60 or 70,000 human sacrifices. The usual amount 
of them was about 20,000. 

The city of Mexico is said to have contained nearly 2000 
small temples, and 360 which were adorned with steeples. 
The whole empire of Mexico contained above 40,000 temples, 
endowed with very considerable revenues. For the service 
in the grand temple of Mexico itself, above 5000 priests were 
appointed; and the number in the whole empire is said to 
have amounted to nearly a million. The whole priesthood, 
excepting that of the conquered nations, was governed by two 
high-priests, who were also the oracles of the kings. Beside 
the service in the temple, their clergy were to instruct the 
youth, to compose the calendars, and to paint the mythologi¬ 
cal pictures. The Mexicans had also priestesses, but they 
were not allowed to offer up sacrifices. They likewise had 
monastic orders, especially one, into which no person was ad¬ 
mitted under sixty years of age. 



Vitzliputzli principal Deity of the Mexicans, p. 564. 


























































































































CARIBBEES. 


565 


The Peruvians, previously to being governed by their In¬ 
cas, worshipped a great number of gods, or rather genii. 
There was no nation, family, city, street, or even house, but 
.had its peculiar gods; and for this particular reason, that they 
thought none but the god to whom they immediately devoted 
themselves, was able to assist them in time of need. They 
worshipped herbs, plants, flowers, trees, mountains, caves, ti¬ 
gers, lions, adders; in fine, every thing that appeared won¬ 
derful in their eyes, was thought worthy of adoration. 

These ancient idolaters of Peru offered not only the fruits 
of the earth and animals to these gods, but also their captives, 
like the rest of the Americans. It was their custom to sacri¬ 
fice their own children, whenever there was a scarcity of vic¬ 
tims. 

Some other idolaters offered their own blood to their dei¬ 
ties, which they drew from their arms and thighs, according 
as the sacrifice was more or less solemn ; and they even used 
on extraordinary occasions, to bleed themselves at the tips of 
their nostrils, or between the eye-brows. 

Such was the state of idolatry all over Peru, when the In¬ 
ca Manco-capac the law-giver of that vast empire, taught the 
savages the worship of the Sun. From this time, sacrifices 
of various kinds of animals were offered in honour of the sun, 
and also cocoa, corn, rich clothes, and a liquor made of water 
and maize. They always presented the last offering to the 
sun, in the following manner : when they were very thirsty, 
they first satisfied their hunger, and afterwards dipped the tip 
of their finger in the vessel into which the liquor was poured : 
this being done, they lifted up their eyes to heaven in a very 
submissive manner; shook that finger on which the drop 
hung, and offered it to the sun as an acknowledgment for his 
goodness in providing drink for them. At the same time they 
gave two or three kisses to the air. This oblation being made 
they all drank as they thought proper. 

Every time they entered their temples, the chief man in the 
company laid his hand on one of his eye-brows, and whether 
he tore off' any of the hairs or not, he blew it into the air be¬ 
fore the idol, as a mark of its being an oblation. They paid 
the same adoration to trees, and to all those things which a 
divine virtue had made sacred and religious. 

The savages or Indians of the Caribee Islands, if they may 
be so called, have no words, it is said, to express a Supreme 
Being; but acknowledge a good and an evil prin- c ari k ees 
ciple, both of which they call Maboia. They be¬ 
lieve in a multitude of ^ood spirits, one of whom each savage 

48 



PAGAN NATIONS. # 


565 

appropriates to himself, under the title of Chemen. r I o these 
Chemens, they offer the first of their fruits, and sometimes out 
of gratitude make a feast to their honour. They make better 
images resembling the form, under which Maboia reveals 
himself to them, in order to prevent his doing them any harm. 
They wear these images about their necks, and pretend that 
they give them ease. They also fast and cut themselves for 
his sake. 

There was formerly at Campeche a square theatre, or scaf¬ 
fold, built of earth and stone, about four cubits high. Upon 
the theatre was fixed the marble statue of a man, 
and Tobasco. whom two animals of an extraordinary shape 
seemed ready to tear in pieces. Near this figure, 
a serpent was also represented, forty-seven feet in length, and 
of a proportionable thickness, which swallowed up a lion. 
These two last figures were made of marble like the rest, and 
enclosed in some measure by pallisadoes. On the pavement 
were bows and arrows, bones and skulls. This is all we are 
told by Purchas concerning these figures, which possibly 
might have some mysterious signification couched under 
them. 

In the sacrifices made to their idols, by the natives of To¬ 
basco, they used to rip up the victim’s breast and tear out his 
heart; they afterwards set, or rather enclosed, the bloody body 
of the victim in a hollow made in a particular part of the 
lion’s neck. The blood of the victim fell into a stone reser¬ 
voir, on the side of which was placed a stone statue represent¬ 
ing a man, who seemed to look steadfastly at the blood of the 
sacrificed victim. As to the heart, the sacrificing priest, after 
having torn it out, smeared the idol’s face with it, and then 
threw it into the fire, which was lighted for that purpose. 

SEC. VII.-RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS OF 

AFRICAN TRIBES. 

The natives of Africa universally believe in a Supreme 
Being, and have some ideas of a future state. They address 
this being by a fetishe or fetish, which is a sort of charm or 
manner of conducting their worship. The term is often 
applied to whatever represents their divinities. 

The Negroes of Congo believe in a good and an evil prin¬ 
ciple, which are both supposed to reside in the sky. The 

Congo. former sends rain, the latter withholds it; but 
they do not seem to consider either of them as 
possessing any influence over human affairs. After death 










Idols of Campeche, p.566. 



Idols of Tabasco, p. 566 

















































































AFRICAN TRIBES. 


567 


they all take their place in the sky, and enjoy a happy exist¬ 
ence, without any regard being paid to their good or bad 
.actions while here below. 

Each town has a grand kissey, or presiding divinity. It is 
the figure of a man, the body stuck with feathers, rags, and 
bits of iron, and resembles nothing so much as one of our 
scarecrows. The chenoo of Cooloo had a kissey so redoubt¬ 
able that if any person attempted to shoot at it, he would fall 
down dead, and the flint would drop out of the musket. This 
powerful divinity was the figure of a man, about two feet 
high, rudely carved in wood, and covered with rags. 

Kolloh is the name of a great spirit who is supposed to 
reside in the vicinity of Yangroo, in Western Africa. He 
makes his abode in the woods, and is rarely seen except on 
mournful occasions, such as the death of the king or of some 
of their head men, or when a person has been buried without 
having observed the usual ceremonies of dancing, drinking 
palm wine, &c. in remembrance of their departed friends. 

The Kolloh is made of bamboo sticks in the form of an 
oval basket, about three feet long, and so deep that it goes on 
to the man’s shoulders. It is covered with a piece of net, 
and stuck all around with porcupine quills on the nose. It 
has a frightful appearance, and has a great effect in exciting 
the terror of the inhabitants. 

A certain man pretends to have some very intimate inter¬ 
course with this Beelzebub, and therefore he is called by the 
spirit to take the Kolloh on his head, and to go about with it 
on certain occasions to see that the various ceremonies of the 
country are strictly observed, and if any are absent he seeks 
them out and drives them to the place of assembly.—He is a 
faithful servant of the Devil. 

The Kolloh-man carries a stick in his hand to show his 
authority, and to give notice of his coming he rings a bell 
which is fixed inside of the Kolloh or basket. These Kol- 
loh-men are a set of plunderers who disturb the peace and 
greatly deceive the ignorant natives. 

The fetishes of Whidah may be divided into three classes ; 
the serpent , tall trees , and the sea. The serpent is the most 
celebrated, the others being subordinate to the -yvhidah 
power of this deity. This snake has a large 
round head, beautiful piercing eyes, a short, pointed tongue, 
resembling a dart: its pace slow and solemn, except when it 
seizes on its prey, then ver}^ rapid; its tail sharp and short, its 
skin of an elegant smoothness, adorned with beautiful colours, 
upon a light gray ground : it is amazingly familiar and tame. 


563 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


Rich offerings are made to this deity; priests and priestesses 
appointed for its service; it is invoked in extremely wet, dry, 
or barren seasons ; and, in a word, on all the great difficulties 
and occurrences of life. 

The people of Benia believe in an invisible deity, who 
created heaven and earth, and governs them with abso- 

Benin lute power; but they conceive it needless to 
worship him, because he is always doing 
good without their services. They also believe in a ma¬ 
lignant deity, to whom they sacrifice men and animals, 
to satiate his thirst of blood, and prevent him from doing 
them mischief. But they have innumerable objects of wor¬ 
ship; as elephants’ teeth, claws, bones, dead men’s heads, 
or any trifle that chance throws in their way, to which they 
make a daily offering of a few boiled yams, mixed with palm 
oil. On great occasions they sacrifice a cock, treating the 
divinity with the blood only, and reserving the flesh for them¬ 
selves. Persons of high rank give an annual feast to their 
gods, at which multitudes of cattle are offered to the idols and 
eaten by the people. Each offers his own sacrifices, without 
giving the priests any sort of trouble. 

Picart has given a particular account of a ceremony of 
some tribes in Guinea, around a sacred tree, called the .tree of 

r o the Fetish. At the foot thereof, says he, they 
set a table, which is embellished below with 
boughs, wreathed in the form of crowns. The table is covered 
with palm wine, rice, millet, &c. in order to drink and eat 
after their service is over, in honour of their Fetishes. The 
whole day is spent in dancing and capering round the tree ot 
the Fetish, and-in singing and drumming upon divers instru¬ 
ments of brass. Their priest frequently sits near the centre 
of the place before a kind of altar, on which he offers up 
some sacrifices to the Fetishes. Men, women, and children, 
sit promiscuously round the celebrant, who reads or pro¬ 
nounces a kind of homily to them. At the conclusion, h-e 
takes a wisp of straw, twisted hard, which he dips into a pot 
full of some particular liquor, in which there is a serpent. He 
either besmears, or sprinkles the children with this holy 
water, mumbling over them a certain form of words. He ob¬ 
serves the same ceremony with respect to the altar, and after¬ 
wards empties the pot; and then his assistants close the ser¬ 
vice with some inarticulate, unintelligible sounds, loud accla¬ 
mations, and clapping of hands. On this solemn day, they 
wash their faces and bodies with more care and pains than on 
any other, for they practise ablutions. They wash themselves 



Virginia Priest, p. 5G3. 























































































AFRICAN TRIBES. 


every morning, and afterwards draw .white lines upon their 
faces, with a piece of earth, like chalk or lime, as acts of de¬ 
votion, performed in honour of the Fetish. 

The priest, attended by two women, frequently repairs to 
the tree of the Fetish, in order to accomplish his magical in¬ 
cantations ; at the foot of which appears a black dog, which 
answers all his interrogatories. 

The religion of the Dahomans, like that of the neighbour¬ 
ing kingdoms, consists of such a mass of superstition as can 
hardly be described. The objects of their devo- Dahomans 
tion are the sun and moon, various animals and 
trees, and other substances. The Portuguese word fetico, or, 
as the English pronounce it, fetish , signifying witchcraft, has 
been adopted by most of the maritime natives of Africa, 
as well as by the Europeans who trade thither. Of their 
amulets , or charms , the principal is a scrap of parchment, 
containing a sentence of the Koran, which the natives pur¬ 
chase from the Moors, who visit the country, and which they 
hang up in their apartments, and decorate with a variety of 
rude images. Among the objects of their idolatrous worship, 
is a species of snake, or serpent, called Daboa; they put it in 
a basket, and place it in the temple destined for it, where they 
secretly feed it with rats, but pretend that it lives upon air. 
The temple is served by priestesses, supported at the king’s 
expense. Every year there is a festival in honour of this ser¬ 
pent,.at which the grandees assist, and for which the king sup¬ 
plies the necessary articles. It lasts usually seven days, during 
which time, the people abandon themselves to drinking, music, 
and dancing. Great faith is placed in the serpent. Those 
who labour under bodily pains, apply the animal to the part 
affected, and pregnant women offer prayers to it for a favour¬ 
able delivery. The tiger is also held in veneration, and there 
is a temple dedicated to the devil, or bad demon. Notwith¬ 
standing these superstitions, the people have a confused idea 
of a Supreme Being, all powerful and infinite, whom they en¬ 
deavour to propitiate by their fetish; but pay him no other 
worship, as they are convinced that he is too good to do them 
any evil. 

The Ashantees are, perhaps, the most polished nation of ne¬ 
groes to be met with in Western Africa. They are, however, 
gross idolaters, and most lavish of human blood Ashantees. 
in sacrifices at their funerals and festivals. They 
say that, at the beginning of the world, God created three black 
men and three white, with the same number of women, and 
placed before them a large box, or calabash, and a sealed paper 
48* 


570 


PAGAN NATION'S. 


The black men had the privilege of choosing, and they took 
the box, expecting it contained every thing; but when they 
opened it, they found only gold, iron, and other metals, of 
which they did not know the use. The white men opened the 
paper, and told them every thing. This happened in Africa, 
where God left the black men in the bush. The white men 
he conducted to the water side, where he taught them to build 
a ship, which carried them to another country. From hence 
they returned, after a long period, with various merchandise, 
to trade with the black men, who might have been the superior 
people if they had chosen right. The kings and governors 
are believed to dwell with God after death, enjoying to eternity 
the luxuries and state they possessed on earth : the paradise of 
the poor affords only a cessation from labour. There are two 
orders of men attached to the inferior deities, called fetishes. 
Every family has its domestic fetish, to which they offer yams, 
&c: some of them are wooden figures; others are of fanciful 
forms, and different materials. When the Ashantees drink, 
they spill a little of the liquor on the ground as an offering to 
the fetish; and when they rise from their chairs, or stools, 
their attendants hastily lay the seat on its side, to prevent 
the devil, or evil spirits, from slipping into their master’s 
place. This evil spirit is supposed to be white; doubt¬ 
less from the same motive or feeling which induces Euro¬ 
peans to say that he is black : for, indeed, who w r ould wish to 
resemble the devil, either in colour or shape, however some of 
us may not object to a resemblance to him in character ? 

SEC. VIII.-RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS OF THE 

POLYNESIANS. 

Polynesia is a name given by geographers to the great 
body of islands scattered over the Pacific ocean, between Aus- 

Polynesians. tra ^ a anc ^ ^ ie Philippines, and the American 
continent. It extends from lat. 35° N. to 50° S.; 
and from Ion. 170° to 230° E. ; an extent of 5000 miles from 
north to south, and 3600 from west to east. It includes, 
therefore, the Sandwich islands, the Marquesas, Navigators, 
Society, Mulgrave, Friendly, Ladrone, and Pelew Isles, the 
Carolines, Pitcairn’s island, &c. 

A general similarity in respect to the objects of religious 
worship, as well as the forms of idolatrous and superstitious 
practice, obtains throughout the whole of Polynesia; although 
some differences may be found between different groups of 
islands, and even between islands belonging to the same group. 


POLYNESIANS. 


571 


The supreme deity of Polynesia, who is generally regarded 
as the creator of the world, and the parent of gods and men, 
has different names in different groups. By the r 
Tahitians, he is called Taaroa ; by the Hawai- 
ians, Tanaroa; and by the inhabitants of the Western Isles 
Tangaroa. According to one of the legends of the Tahitian 
mythology, Taaroa was born of Nighl, or proceeded from 
Chaos, as did his consort Ofeufeumaiterai. Oro, the great 
national idol of Raitea, Tahiti, Eimeo, and some other islands 
was the son of the foregoing. Oro took a goddess to wife, 
who became the mother of two sons. These four male and 
two female deities constituted their divinities of the highest 
rank. This was the catalogue furnished the missionaries by 
the priests of Tahiti. Other gods of high and uncreated or¬ 
der, however, are mentioned, as Raa, Tane, &c. Besides the 
above, they had numerous other inferior deities. 

The image of Taaroa cannot well be described. It may be 
stated, however, in respect to one, which was taken from the 
temple at Rurutu, that it bore some resemblance j c j o1s 
to the human figure. It was about four feet high, 
and twelve or fifte.en inches broad, and was carved out of a 
solid piece of close, white, durable wood. On his face and 
body a great number of images were formed, denoting the num¬ 
ber of gods which had proceeded from him; the image was 
hollow, and within were found a number of small idols. 

In the Sandwich islands there is a resemblance among ail 


their idols. The head has generally a horrid appearance, 
the mouth being large, and usually extended Sandwich 
wide, exhibiting a row of large teeth, resembling jdois. 
the cogs in the wheel of an engine, and adapted 
to excite terror, rather than inspire confidence. Some of these 
idols are of stone; others are composed of wicker work covered 
with red feathers. 

The Polynesian temples are of three classes—natural, local, 
and domestic. In the first are deposited their principal idols, 
and in and around them are held their great Temples 
festivals: the second belong to the several dis- F 

tricts ; the third are appropriated to the worship of their house¬ 
hold gods. In the South Sea islands the name of their tem¬ 
ples was Marae; these were buildings of a rude construction, 
and resembled oratories more than temples. 

The worship of the Polynesians consists of prayers, offer¬ 
ings, and sacrifices. In their prayers, they ad- ^ . 

dress their gods either in a kneeling posture, & Ui ' 

cross legged, or crouching. Take the pharisees in the days of 


572 


PAGAN NATIONS. 


our Saviour, they extend their supplications to a great length, 
and use many vain repetitions, thereby hoping to recommend 
themselves to the special notice of the deity. Their offerings 
consist of fowls, fishes, beasts of the field, fruits of the earth, 
and manufactures of various kinds. When animals are of¬ 
fered, they are generally whole; but fruits are commonly 
dressed. Portions of the offerings are considered sacred, and 
may not be eaten ; the remainder is monopolized by the priests, 
and other sacred persons, w r ho are privileged to eat of the sa¬ 
crifices. Human victims were formerly offered in great num¬ 
bers, especially in seasons of war, at great national festivals, 
during the illness of their rulers, and on the erection of their 
temples. When an individual had been selected for sacrifice, 
the family to which he belonged was said to be tabu i. e. devo¬ 
ted ; and, hence, if another victim was wanted, it was likely 
to be taken from such a family. When the person was about 
to be sacrificed, he was generally murdered at a moment, 
when he was little expecting the stroke. As soon as dead, his 
body was placed in a long basket, and carried to the temple 
Here it was offered, not by burning it, but by placing it before 
the idol. After a variety of ceremonies by the priest, among 
which one was to pluck out an eye of the victim, which being 
placed on a plantain leaf was handed to the king, who passed 
it to his mouth, as if he would eat it the body was wrapped in 
a basket of cocoa-nut leaves, and frequently deposited on the 
branches of a neighbouring tree. Hqre having remained a 
considerable time, during which it became dry and shrivelled, 
it was taken down, and the bones were buried beneath the 
wide pavement of the Marae. 

When a person deceased, the first object was to ascertain 
the cause of his death, as the ceremonies which followed va- 
ried accordingly. These ceremonies being per- 
Ri te g nera formed, the body was to be disposed of. In case 
of a chief, or person of rank, the body was pre¬ 
served; but all others w r ere buried. When about to be in¬ 
terred, the corpse was placed in a sitting posture, with the 
-knees elevated, the face pressed down between the knees, the 
hands fastened under the legs, and the whole body tied with a 
cord. The interment usually took place on the day the per¬ 
son deceased, or the day following. During the interval 
which elapsed between death and burial, the surviving friends 
watched the corpse, indulging their grief in loud and bitter 
lamentations, and cutting themselves with a shark’s tooth. 
The bodies of their chiefs were embalmed, and afterwards 
preserved in houses erected for that purpose, 





£ 




Funeral ceremony of the nations of Guinea, p.568. 































MINOR SECTS. 


573 


A BRIEF VIEW OF MINOR SECTS/ 


Arians derive their name from Arius, a presbyter of Alex¬ 
andria, who flourished about the year 315. He maintained 
that the Son was totally and essentially distinct from the Fa¬ 
ther ; that he was the first and noblest of all those beings, 
whom God the Father had created out of nothing, the instru¬ 
ment by whose subordinate operation the Almighty Father 
formed the universe, and therefore inferior to the Father both 
in nature and dignity. The Holy Spirit, he maintained, was 
created by the Son. In modern times, the term Arian is in¬ 
discriminately applied to those who consider Jesus simply sub¬ 
ordinate to the Father. 

Dunkers, or Tunkers, so called from a German term, 
implying their baptizing by immersion, a practice prevalent 
among them. Their founder was Conrad Peysasl, a German 
Baptist, who, weary of the world, retired to an agreeable soli¬ 
tude, about fifty miles from Philadelphia, where, gathering 
around him a colony, he carried out his peculiar notions on 
religion. The chief tenet of this sect is, that future happiness 
is only to be obtained by penance and outward mortification, 
so as that, Jesus Christ, by his meritorious sufferings, became 
the Redeemer of mankind in general, so each individual of 
the human race, by a life of abstinence and restr.^t, may 
“ work out his own salvation.” Nay, it is said, they admit 
of works of supererogation. They use the same form of gov¬ 
ernment, and the same discipline, as the English Baptists do, 
except that every person is allowed to speak in the congrega¬ 
tion, and their best speaker is usually ordained to be minister. 
They have also deacons, and deaconesses from among their 
ancient widows, who may use all their gifts, and exhort at 
stated times. 

Humanitarians, a term applied to those modern Socini- 
ans, who maintain the simple humanity of Jesus Christ; or, 
that Jesus was “ a mere man, and naturally fallible and pec¬ 
cable, as Moses, or any other prophet.” Many of the Socinians 
of the present day are of this faith. 

♦ The manuscript having extended considerably beyond the author’s 
expectations, he finds himself obliged to reject a large portion of the 
matter prepared for this part of the volume. But as the value and in¬ 
terest of the work may be found to be enhanced by the change, he trusts 
his readers will admit the apology. 



574 


MINOR SECTS. 


Jerkers, or Barkers, a set of Schismatics, who arose in 
Kentucky, and adjoining parts, about the year 1803, during 
and following a remarkable effusion of the Spirit, and who 
manifested their zeal in an extraordinary manner by falling 
down, rolling, shouting, jerking, dancing, barking, &c. They 
were originally composed of Baptists, Presbyterians, and Me¬ 
thodists. In process of time, they separated from their re¬ 
spective orders, and formed a new Presbytery, called the 
Springfield, upon New-Light principles. This, however, was 
soon dissolved, upon which many of these fanatics became 
Shaking Quakers. 

Jumpers, so called from their practice of jumping during 
the time allotted for religious worship. They originated in 
Wales, about the year 1760, among the Calvinistic Method¬ 
ists. Led on by preachers of enthusiastic temperament, they 
at length considered it the essence of religion, and the most 
effective means of inculcating it, to exhibit the most wild and 
extravagant conduct. They cried out even to vociferation, in 
the midst of the congregation. Some clapped their hands, 
while others jumped up and down in apparent ecstasy. This 
at last came to be considered as a proof of the presence and 
approbation of God. The sect, at the present time, is compa¬ 
ratively small. 

Mennonites, originally a society of Baptists in Holland, 
so called from Menno Simon, who lived in the 16th century. 
After him, they maintain that practical piety is the essence of 
religion; they plead for universal toleration, deny infant bap¬ 
tism, iejcct the terms person and trinity, object to oaths, and 
capital punishments. In their discipline, they resemble the 
Presbyterians. The Mennonites are a numerous and respect¬ 
able body in Pennsylvania. Among them, baptism is not ad¬ 
ministered by immersion, though it is confined to adults. The 
person baptized kneels, and the minister holds his hands over 
him while the deacon pours water through them upon the head 
of the subject. This is followed by prayer and imposition of 
hands. 

Moravians. This sect is supposed to have arisen under 
Nicholas Lewis, Count of Zinzendorf, a German nobleman, 
who died 1760. They were also called Hernhutters , from 
Hernhuth, the name of the village where they first settled. 
The followers of Count Zinzendorf are called Moravians, be¬ 
cause the first converts to his system were some Moravian fa¬ 
milies; the society themselves, however, assert, that they are 
descended from the old Moravian and Bohemian brethren, who 
existed a.s a distinct sect, sixty years prior to the reformation. 


MINOR SECTS. 


5/o 

They also style themselves Unit as Fratrum, or the United Bre¬ 
thren. 

Sabbatarians are a body of Christians who keep the 
seventh day as the sabbath , and are to be found principally, if 
not wholly, amongst the Baptists. They assert, that the change 
of the sabbath, from the seventh to the first day of the week, 
was effected by Constantine, upon his conversion to the Chris¬ 
tian religion. The three following propositions contain a 
summary of their principles as to the article of the Sabbath : 
1st. That God hath required the observation of the seventh, 
day to be observed by mankind universally for the weekly sab¬ 
bath : 2ndly, That this command is perpetually binding on 
man till time shall be no more; Srdly, That this sacred rest of 
the seventh-day is not, by divine authority, changed from the 
seventh and last to the first day of the week. 

Sandemanians, a modern sect that originated in Scotland, 
about the year 1728, where it is, at this time, distinguished by 
the name of Glassites, after its founder, Mr. John Glass, who 
was a minister of the established church in that kinqdom ; 
but, being charged with a design of subverting the national 
covenant, and sapping the foundation of all national establish¬ 
ments, by maintaining that the kingdom of Christ is not of 
this world, was expelled by the synod from the church of 
Scotland. The chief opinions and practices in which this 
sect differs from other Christians, are their weekly adminis¬ 
tration of the Lord’s Supper; their love-feasts, of which every 
member is not only allowed, but required to partake, and 
which consist of their dining together at each other’s houses 
in the interval between the morning and afternoon service; 
their kiss of charity used on this occasion, at the admission of 
a new member, and at other times when they deem it neces¬ 
sary and proper; their weekly collection before the Lord’s 
Supper, for the support of the poor, and defraying other ex¬ 
penses ; mutual exhortation ; abstinence from blood and things 
strangled ; and washing each other’s feet. 

Shakers, are a sect which arose in the United States in 
1774. The principal or leader of this sect was Anne Leese, 
or Lee, who emigrated to America in the above year, with a 
number of followers, with whom she settled at Niskayuna, 
near Albany. They have flourishing establishments at Le¬ 
banon and Pittsfield. The tenets on which the Shakers 
mostly dwell, are those of human depravity, and of the mira¬ 
culous effusion of the Holy Spirit. Their leading practical 
tenet is the abolition of marriage; they vindicate their music 
and dancing as leading parts of worship, especially alluding 


576 


MINOR SECTS. 


to the return of the prodigal; while the elder son, disliking 
music and dancing, represents the natural man, condemning 
their soul-reviving practices. 

Socinians take their name from Faustus Socinus, who died 
in Poland, 1604. There were two who bore the name Soci¬ 
nus, uncle and nephew, and both disseminated the same doc¬ 
trine. The Socinian asserts that Christ had no existence un¬ 
til born of the Virgin Mary ; and that being a man like our¬ 
selves, though endowed with a large portion of the Divine 
wisdom, the only objects of his mission were to teach the effi¬ 
cacy of repentance without an atonement, as a medium of the 
Divine favour; to exhibit an example for our imitation ; to 
seal his doctrine with his blood ; and, in his resurrection from 
the dead, to indicate the certainty of our resurrection at the 
last day. 

Swedenborgians, or Neio Jerusalem Church. This sect 
owes its origin to Emanuel Swedenborg, a native of Sweden, 
born 1689. In 1743, he began to disseminate his doctrines 
which, as gathered from his works, are summarily as follow: 
1. That there is but one God, one in essence and one in 
person, in whom there is a Divine Trinity, like soul, body and 
operation in man, and that the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 
is that one God. 2. That the humanity derived from the vir¬ 
gin was successfully put off and a divine humanity put on 
in its stead, and this was the glorification of the son of man. 
3. That redemption consisted in the subjugation of the powers 
of hell, whereby man was delivered from the bondage of evils 
and errors and that it was thus an actual work on the part of 
the Lord, for the sake and happiness of man. 4. That faith 
alone does not justify and save man ; but he must have faith, 
charity, and good -works. 5. That the sacred Scripture is 
divinely inspired in every particular, and contains a natural, 
spiritual, and celestial sense, and is applicable to angels 
in heaven, as well as to men on earth. 6. That man 
enters, immediately after death, into the spiritual world, 
leaving his body, which will never be reassumed, and con¬ 
tinues, to all eternity, a man in a human form, with the 
possession of all his faculties. 7. That the last judgment 
spoken of in the New Testament was effected by the Lord in 
the spiritual world in the year 1757: the good were then 
elevated to heaven, and the evil cast down to hell. Thus the 
way was prepared for the second advent of the Lord, which 
was a coming, not in person, but in the power and glory of 
his Holy Word; and, a new spiritual influx being communi¬ 
cated, a new church would thereby be established. 

THE END.' 


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